


Spider-Man

by age_of_sharkbait



Category: Marvel (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Bisexual Peter Parker, F/M, Harry Osborn Needs a Hug, M/M, No beta we die like Peter Parker's father figures, Norman Osborn's A+ parenting, Peter Parker is a Mess, Typical Parker Luck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29276523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/age_of_sharkbait/pseuds/age_of_sharkbait
Summary: Peter Parker is a fifteen year old kid trying to navigate the world of high school...also the world of being New York's newest vigilante hero. He's not so great at work/life balance, but he's figuring it out. Well, he's trying, at least. Homecoming is just around the corner and Peter will have to face down some of the most dangerous situations of his life: rampaging supervillains, raging fires, terrorist organizations, and perhaps the most nerve-wracking of all...finding a date.
Relationships: Harry Osborn/Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16





	1. Introducing Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!

**Author's Note:**

> I just got done binging every Spidey cartoon on Disney Plus and I am dying to write my own take on my favorite web slinging menace! I'm very excited to finally bring my own version of Peter to the page, and I hope you guys have as much fun reading as I had writing! This story isn't based off of any version of Spider-Man in particular, but if you're as big a Spidey fan as I am, you'll probably be able to spot influences from tons of sources. The story starts on Tuesday, September 26th, just so you can keep track of things. Please leave any and all suggestions or point out any dumb dumb mistakes of mine in the comments. Enjoy the story, fellas!

New York: the city that never sleeps. You'd think that saying only applies to the college kids partying it up after a stressful day or people on the graveyard shift, but for me, it's just as true. I'm not a college student, just a fifteen year old kid dealing with all of the average things teenage boys deal with. I wake up, take the seven into Manhattan, and count the seconds until school’s over. Seems ordinary enough, but I've got one hell of a night life. 

My name is Peter Parker, and I am Spider-Man. I used to go to bed around midnight, like most of my classmates, but ever since I got my superpowers five months ago, I live by that cliche slogan of New York City.

I got my powers the usual way. Y'know, a boy goes on a field trip to a research facility, accidentally gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and suddenly has more power than he could ever dream of. What? Not the way you did it?

Well, I sure as hell didn't know what to do with my newfound capabilities. I made some bad choices that had even worse consequences, but that all led to me becoming New York’s very own superhero! Yeah sure, the Avengers are a thing, but they’re mostly off world dealing with galaxy level threats. I’m more your garden variety hero; a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, if you will.

But that’s just my alter ego. Peter Parker’s life is...not so glamorous. I mean, I take the seven to school, that should be all you need to know. But webfluid doesn’t grow on trees so there I was, smushed in a metal tube with a bunch of other highschoolers on their morning commute. I got off at Grand Central and walked a couple blocks down 42nd to a small cafe. To say it was a hole in the wall would be generous. It didn’t even have a sign with a name and the smell from the Thai food restaurant on the left mingled strangely with the laundromat to the right, but they made a mean banana smoothie. I met my friends there before school every day.

Harry and Gwen were already at our usual table. Harry slid over my drink as I set down my bag. “I had a feeling you would be late so I ordered for you.”

“Thanks,” I fished three dollars from my pocket and handed them to him.

He shook his head. “Not necessary, Pete. It’s just a smoothie.”

I glared at him until he sighed and took the cash. Harry might be the son of a multi-billionaire, but I hated when he tried to buy everything for me. He thought I was overreacting, but I knew Harry. If I let him buy me small stuff it would just escalate until he bought me and my Aunt May a penthouse.

Gwen ignored the whole thing. She was typing away at her laptop, her milkshake starting to melt.

“What’s she working on?” I pointed at her. If I interrupted her flow she’d probably bite my head off. Which wouldn’t even be the first time someone had tried that this week. Don’t ask.

“Final touches on the English paper.” Harry shrugged.

I sat down heavily in the booth next to Harry. “The English paper!”

Gwen raised her eyebrows without pausing her work. “You forgot didn’t you?”

“Forget? Me? No way.”

“You totally did,” Harry sighed. “We’ve had two months to work on it. What have you been doing this whole time?”

Catching muggers, thugs, and being a general nuisance to criminals all over the city. But of course I didn’t say anything. Harry and Gwen didn’t know about my extracurricular activities. No one did. You’d think I would be better at managing my time between school and heroism by now but...I wasn’t. “Look, English is my last class, I can finish before then!”

“How you manage to keep a 5.0 GPA is a mystery to me.” Gwen closed her laptop. “But let’s not shame poor Peter anymore. Did you guys see the news last night?”

I had a feeling I knew exactly what Gwen was referring to, but I just shook my head.

“You talking about that botched bank robbery on 50th?” Harry leaned forward.

“Yeah, except it wasn’t just botched,” Gwen smirked. She loved having a good story to tell. “I overheard my dad on the phone, they think it was that new vigilante!”

“The spider dude? No way!” I tried not to cringe as Harry butchered my name.

Spider- _ Man.  _ How hard was it to get some proper branding?

“How come no one can get a solid video of the guy,” Harry was saying. “I mean, a city full of millions of people constantly on their phones and all we have is low frame surveillance footage to prove he even exists.”

“He’s too fast,” Gwen said with an air of authority. Her father was a police captain so she got all the secondhand information. As far as she and Harry were concerned, that did make her the authority on Spider-Man. Except for the fact that I was sitting right next to them. “Even if someone did get a good video, he’d probably still be a blur. It would take some real photography equipment to get anything usable. But you still wouldn’t be able to find him. The guy is as elusive as the t.v. remote when an annoying commercial comes on.”

Wow, my first compliment as a hero. I tried not to get too emotional. The truth was, I’d love to tell them both. I’d been friends with Harry all my life and with Gwen almost as long. I felt guilty lying to them, but how do you even start that conversation? Hey friends, sometimes I run around the city in spandex beating on bad guys. Not exactly the easiest conversation to have.

“My dad doesn’t think he’s real. Faked videos and conspiracy theories and all that,” Harry pointed his finger at me. “But I bet he’s legit.”

“Oh he’s real alright,” Gwen folded her arms. “My dad says the police are on high alert for him.”

Oh great, just what I needed. The undivided attention of the NYPD. I set my smoothie down. Suddenly I didn’t have much of an appetite.

“What do you think of him, Pete?” Harry asked.

“What makes you guys so sure it’s a he? Women can be vigilante crime fighters too. Just look at Black Widow.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “They’re pretty sure he’s a guy. All his victims agree that he has a male voice. By all accounts, he apparently talks a lot while he fights.”

Well at least my witty banter made an impression on all the baddies I’d caught. Though I didn’t like the word  _ victims.  _ Sounded a bit too violent. " Hey, it’s almost seven thirty, we should get to school.”

“This early?” Gwen checked the time on her phone.

Harry laughed. “He probably wants to spend a few minutes on his paper before class starts.”

What I really wanted was a topic change. Whenever they talked about Spider-Man I always got nervous. The only things safeguarding my identity were a red mask and my big fat mouth. I’d hate to accidentally give away my secret.

We left the cafe. Sadly Gwen and Harry took their spider-theories to the streets.

“He’s gotta be some billionaire,” Gwen asserted. “With those webs he uses, he probably spends a fortune in the manufacturing cost alone, forget about the research and testing it takes to come up with the formula.”

Harry pursed his lips. “Not necessarily. He could be backed by a corporation. That would explain why my dad hates to talk about him. He’s probably mad Oscorp didn’t think of it first.”

I kept walking with my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. In reality, the webfluid I made was so dense that even just one cartridge could last me two weeks if I was careful. As for the chemicals, I may have liberated them from the chemical supply closet at school. But in my defense, Midtown’s chemistry class wasn’t too advanced and they never would’ve used them anyway.

“Hmm,” Gwen frowned. “I still think he operates alone. If a whole team of scientists was involved there’s no way no information would slip after all this time.”

“I don’t know, Gwen. To build a suit that provides that level of strength and agility...seems unlikely it’s just one guy.”

“Oh come on,” Gwen threw her hands in the air. “Peter, you’re on my side aren’t you?”

I was actually on neither of their sides. My agility was all me, not some advanced combat suit. They’d lose their minds if they found out I really sewed the suit myself with materials I found in May’s fabric container in the basement. I still hadn’t worked out the kinks in the lenses, but nevermind that.

“Uh,” I looked up from the sidewalk, “I guess it isn’t impossible that he works alone. He could be another billionaire genius like Iron Man, but logically speaking, Harry’s explanation is more likely.”

“Yes!” Harry held his hand up for a high five. I nervously held my hand up. Proportionate strength of a spider was a hard thing to control, so interactions like this were stressful. I was still new at this, what if I gave Harry knuckles without focusing and accidentally punched him through a wall? But the high five went off without a hitch, Gwen and Harry none the wiser to the mental hoops I was throwing myself through for little, everyday things.

Thankfully we got to Midtown High in time to avoid any more questions.

“Okay guys, I’m off to the computer lab.” I waved goodbye.

“You’ve been saving for a laptop for over a year,” Gwen said, curse her memory. “How close are you?”

“Super close,” I lied. Most of my spare cash, which wasn’t much, went to suit repairs and fine tuning the more delicate aspects of my costume like the lenses and web shooters. My computer savings were nearly gone. “Besides, I can work on documents on my phone!”

“Which is really surprising.” Harry grimaced. “That thing is barely better than a flip phone. If you’d just let me help out-”

“Thanks, but you know I can’t take your money, Harry.”

Harry sighed. “Yeah, yeah. You’ve gotta make your own way in the world. But still-”

“Bye, Harry!” I cut him off, running for the computer lab. “Bye Gwen!”

I reached the doors and glanced back. Harry and Gwen were exchanging worried looks, making me feel even guiltier. They were my best friends. Sooner or later they were going to figure out something was up. Why did I have to go and make friends with the two smartest teenagers in all five boroughs? And why did I think lying to them was a good idea in the first place? I’d never let them see it, but I was really stressed out, like, all the time.

I sighed and continued to the lab. Maybe I should think about coming clean.

By some miracle I managed to finish my paper before English. Not my best work, but I was confident it was at least a B. After the final bell I texted Harry something about needing to pick up groceries for Aunt May before sneaking out one of the school’s back entrances. I’d already put my costume on underneath my clothes in the bathroom, so now it was only a matter of finding a nice quiet ally to take my street clothes off. Good thing New York has plenty of allies. In no time at all I was perched on a fire escape twelve stories up. The metal creaked as I shifted my weight. Down below me people walked along the sidewalks. Kids travelled in groups, jostling and pushing each other, excited to be out of school.

I was trembling with excitement as well. The metal groaned one final time as I jumped off and fell through the air. The wind roaring around me was a sound I would never get over. Once I passed the fifth floor windows, I shot a web, continuing to fall until the line went tight and my momentum carried me forward and up.

“Whoohoo!” I yelled out, reaching the top of the swing.

People turned their faces up with expressions that varied from wonder to annoyance as I thwiped my way west on 23rd. I felt my muscles loosen up, all the tension and stress from the day just melting away. Slingshotting myself across Manhattan was the most amazing feeling in the world.

Relaxation time ended when I heard a startled cry below. A man with his hood pulled up was taking advantage of the afterschool crowds for a little purse snatching. I folded my arms against my sides, shooting down towards the street like an arrow. At the last second I grabbed a streetlight, swinging around it several times before stopping in a squat. The man was running my way with his shoulder down, shoving pedestrians out of his way. Luckily that kept his attention on the ground, not on spiders falling from the sky. I shot a web as he passed that attached to his ankles. I gave it a tug, pulling his feet out from under him.

He dropped the purse with a yelp, thrashing wildly.

“Hey, careful down there!” I called out, pulling the web up. “Wouldn’t want me to drop you. That hoodie probably doesn’t offer the best protection from smashing your face on the concrete.”

“What the hell!” He continued struggling. “Lemme go, you freak!”

“Nah,” I stuck the web to the metal between my feet as soon as he was high enough to hang over everyone’s heads. Already a big crowd had gathered. “Just call it a citizen’s arrest or something.”

I jumped down to the ground to survey my work. The man was trying to bend up and free his legs. I took the opportunity to web his hands to his ankles as well.

“There you have it folks!” I turned to the crowd like I was an announcer at a sports event. “Spider-Man has done it again! One hogtied purse snatcher for the boys in blue! No need to thank me, please, hold your applause!”

The crowd eyed me with an appropriate amount of suspicion. 

“Okay, maybe a little applause wouldn’t hurt.” I picked up the purse and held it up. “Anyone know who this belongs to?”

A breathless woman pushed through the crowd. “Did anyone see which way that-”

She stopped short when she saw the man in the hoodie dangling from the streetlight.

“And we have a winner,” I held out the bag. “Here’s your purse, ma’am. Hopefully nothing’s missing. If it is, just ask him.”

I turned and raised one arm to shoot another web, but the lady called out. “Hey wait! Who are you?” 

I placed a hand on my chest. “Can’t you tell? I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!” 

I shot out a web, yanking myself into the air as soon as I finished speaking. Hopefully one of those people would call the police to get hoodie guy down before my webs disintegrated. I designed them so that continued exposure to oxygen would break down the chemical bonds after an hour. Wouldn’t want Manhattan to look like a massive spider’s nest.

“A couple more stunts like that and New York will know who I am in time for the evening news!” 

I swung up and down Midtown, Chinatown, even through Hell’s Kitchen for the rest of the afternoon, but it turned out to be a slow day for petty criminals. I didn’t know if that made me happy or disappointed. Pretty soon the sun started to set. Time for all spiders to swing home. Well, all spiders that had an overprotective aunt anyway.

Just as I was making my way back east, a tingling sensation ran up my spine. It was like that game kids played, spiders running up your back. I turned in time to see a dark shape disappear behind a skyscraper.

“What are the odds that was just a giant pigeon,” I asked myself, swinging around the corner. There was no sign of whatever that thing had been. I scanned the street, but the sun was in my eyes. My powers included enhanced senses, which made things like direct sunlight nearly blinding. I was trying to get my lenses to filter out most of the input I got so I wouldn’t go into sensory overload but like I said earlier; I was still working out the kinks.

I spent a few more seconds squinting, waiting for my lenses to adjust, when I felt my spine tingle again. I jerked my head to the right as a huge shape grabbed my arm and dragged me into the air. 

“Woah!” I gasped, craning my neck to get a good look at my attacker. “Y’know, I can get around just fine on my own, I don’t need an air taxi. And I’m not paying you for the ride either!”

The man laughed. He gripped my arm tighter with his...talons? Yep, those were definitely talons. I’d had plenty of close encounters with pigeons to be able to tell. This was no pigeon, though. This was a lunatic dressed in a full body mech suit with wings. He looked down and I made a very unheroic noise. The man was wearing a mask that covered the top of his face, curving down over his nose in a beak shape. The mask itself was terrifying. All green tinted glass with beady red lights for eyes.

“I had hoped to test my new suit on someone else, but when I saw you I couldn’t resist,” the man said, his voice sounding slightly mechanical as if it were run through a light modulator.

“There are better ways to introduce yourself, Pigeon-Man!” I shot a web at his mask and he dropped me in surprise.

I tumbled a short way through the sky until I positioned myself to shoot another web, swinging up to the roof of the closest building.

“Pigeon-Man?” The guy exclaimed, banking back around. He landed on the same building and swiped the webs from his mask. “I am the Vulture!”

“Cool, cool, cool,” I rubbed my chin. “But there aren’t many vultures in Manhattan, you’d get a lot more recognition as Pigeon Man. Take it from me, I’m-”

“Spider-Man, I know.”

Gee, the first time someone gets my name right and it's a crazy guy in a wingsuit. “Oh, did you see my Tinder profile?”

“What is Tinder?” Vulture seemed genuinely confused.

“It’s a- oh nevermind, you’re clearly too old to know.” I gave him the up down. He was taller than me, but when you’re only 5’4’’, everyone is taller than you. Still, this guy was unmistakably an adult.

“My sponsor was right,” Vulture growled, “you are annoying.”

“Ooh, a sponsor! Who would take an interest in little old me?” I placed my hands on my chest like I was flattered.

“That’s something you’ll never know, spider.” Vulture raised his fist. “When I crush you like the insect you are, my sponsor will be unable to deny I am ready to enact my revenge on Osborn!”

Osborn? I racked my brain for reasons he would be after Harry before I had a no duh moment. Vulture was after  _ Norman  _ Osborn, Harry’s dad and CEO of Oscorp Industries. I couldn’t let him get the chance.

“I have several problems with your plan,” I shot a web, snagging Vulture’s fist and pulling him towards me. “First,” I accentuated the word by punching Vulture right in the beak, “spiders are arachnids,  _ not  _ insects.”

Vulture reeled from my punch, landing several feet away with his wings splayed out. Was that punch too much? It was hard to tell just how much his suit protected him. I repressed a sigh of relief when he shook his head and stood up.

“Second, couldn’t you make your suit out of something softer? I would not stuff my pillow with those feathers.” I shook my hand out. “And third, what do you want with Norman Osborn? Surely you can find a more interesting person to  _ enact revenge _ on.”

“You don’t know the first thing about Osborn! He’s a thief!” Vulture spread his wings and took flight, building speed as he closed the distance between us.

“A thief?” I jumped up over Vulture, launching myself off his back and knocking him back onto the roof. Best to keep this bird grounded. “The guy is a multi-billionaire, what would he need to steal from you?”

“Everything!” Vulture turned and snarled at me. Totally not scary at all. “My funding, my designs, my credibility! Norman Osborn deserves to die by my claws! That will show him how wrong he was to destroy my legacy!”

“Slow down there, buddy,” I ducked as he tried to knock me over with a swipe of his wings. “It looks like you managed fine without all that stuff. Look at you! You could make Big Bird jealous with those wings!”

“Aargh!” Vulture flew at me again. This time I rolled under him. Just as I passed underneath his wings, I felt a current of warm air. I rolled and came up in a crouch as Vulture swept in a circle around me. I focused on his tech. His wings were attached behind his shoulder blades with a battery pack. Right at the base of each wing was a vent. That’s where the hot air came from. If I could block them with my webs, there was a good chance Vulture’s tech could overheat.

I took aim, but Vulture folded his wings to dive at me.

“Come on, come on,” I whispered, holding my ground as he sped towards me. Finally he spread his wings. I got two shots off right as Vulture’s talons connected with my chest. I gasped, the wind knocked out of me as he flattened me on the roof. My head rocked against the concrete and set my ears ringing.

“Your webs are useless against me, Spider-Man!” Vulture pressed his talons down harder causing me to cry out in pain. “The Vulture has defeated this pesky vigilante!”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, you glorified chicken!” I grabbed his talons and used all my strength to pull them off of me, slamming Vulture down to the ground.

“Give up already,” Vulture demanded, picking himself up. “Can’t you tell when you’ve been beaten?”

“Can’t you?” I shot back, one hand on my chest where Vulture’s claws had torn my suit.

“What are you talking about?” Vulture sneered. He took a step closer to me, then straightened up. “What’s that noise?”

The mechanical whirring of his suit had escalated to a high pitched whine. He frantically tried to find the source of the noise, but it was too late. Smoke started to curl up from the battery pack. A spark of electricity arced out and his wings fell uselessly to his side.

“What have you done?” Vulture cried. “You broke my suit, you insolent bug!”

“Again, arachnid. Not a bug. But if you won’t take it from me, how about we call the cops and ask them what they think?”

“I will not be so easily defeated, Spider-Man.” He raised his arm and a small device shot out from his wrist. I lost sight of it in the glare of the sun so I ducked, but I should’ve jumped. The black dot hit my shoulder and my body was jolted with electricity. I fell writhing to the ground as Vulture used his arms to prop up his wings and glided off the building.

As soon as the electricity stopped, I dragged myself over to the edge of the roof, but it was no use. Vulture was nowhere to be seen. I rolled over onto my back, my limbs still twitching painfully from being tazed. “We’ll call that a tie.”

After a few minutes I pulled myself up, all my muscles groaning in protest. I’d never fought a guy like that before. Where did he come from? Who would sponsor a maniac like that? And why did he think Osborn stole from him? Oh no. If Vulture was targeting Norman, that meant Harry could be in serious danger.

I swung a few blocks, but with each swing my arms grew heavier. I was in no condition to do anything else tonight. Hopefully the damage I caused to Vulture’s tech would prevent him from doing anything else tonight either. I swung east again, trying not to feel like a failure.

I walked along the top of the Queensboro bridge, then swung to catch the LIRR. I layed down on the cool metal, the rumbling of the train giving me a free and sorely needed massage. I jumped off as the train stopped at the Forest Hills station. I dropped down behind a gas station, the only one in the area that didn’t have cameras in the back. You start to pay attention to things like that when you have a secret identity. I changed back to my street clothes, stuffing my Spidey suit to the bottom of my bookbag. I kept the web shooter bracelets on my wrists, just in case. 

I was on edge the whole walk home. I kept expecting to see the Vulture’s beady eyes around every corner. Maybe it was leftover electricity making me so jumpy. Or maybe it was the concussion. I rubbed my head. Vulture did not play around. I needed to be ready for his next attack. I should warn Harry- except I couldn’t do that without giving away my secret.

Maybe I could warn them as Spider-Man. Show up in the red and blues on Oscorp’s front door and say “Hey Norm, there’s a crazy guy in a costume after you!”. Sure, that would do the trick.

I sighed. No secret in the world was more important than Harry’s safety. I made a silent promise to myself to protect Harry and his dad no matter what. Harry would not lose his dad like I lost my parents. I trudged up the steps to my house. 

“Peter,” Aunt May called from the kitchen. “You missed dinner, where were you?”

“Sorry, study group with Harry ran late.”

“I saved you a plate, come on in here.”

I did as I was asked, mostly because my stomach let out a defiant growl when I considered just going straight to bed. As soon as I came into her view, Aunt May’s smile turned into a frown.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong.”

“Of course there’s something wrong. You look exhausted! Is Flash Thompson giving you a hard time again? I should really talk to that boy’s mother.”

I laughed. “Really, I’m fine. Maybe a little tired, but nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

“If you say so,” Aunt May said with a look on her face that said she didn’t buy it. She took out a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes from the microwave.

“Is it okay if I take this to my room? I still have some homework to finish.”

“As long as you bring the plate down before you go to sleep.”

“Thanks, May, you’re the best.”

Aunt May smiled again. “I am aware.”

I grabbed the plate and ran upstairs. Forget Harry and Gwen, if Aunt May figured out I was Spider-Man, I wouldn’t have to worry about the Vulture ever again. She would kill me on the spot. I set my dinner down on the edge of my desk and fished my mask out from my bag. I opened a drawer and grabbed a couple tools. Time to figure out these lenses. I needed to be able to see the Vulture if I was going to beat him. Maybe I could add a polarizing filter like they used on cameras. After a couple hours of work, I slipped the mask over my head. I walked over to my mirror and turned on my phone’s flashlight.

“Yes!” I shouted as my lenses narrowed and darkened my vision like they were supposed to. “Bring it on, Pigeon-Man!”

I put my mask in my bag when I was struck by another idea. I took my suit out. The little black device was still stuck to the cloth. I pried it off. Maybe I could use the Vulture’s weapons against him.


	2. Vulture 2: Electric Boogaloo

The next day I got ready as soon as I could. I snatched an apple from the kitchen and called out a quick goodbye to May, then I was out the door. Despite leaving early, Gwen and Harry still beat me to the cafe.

“Seriously, how early do you guys get here?”

“You don’t know the definition of early.” Gwen rolled her eyes. 

I sat down next to Harry. “So, any news about Spider-Man?”

“He caught some guy running off with a lady’s purse, that’s it.”

“I don’t see what your dad’s problem is with him,” Harry said. “It seems like he’s helping the cops out.”

“Yeah, but my dad says vigilante justice isn’t justice.” Gwen shrugged. “He says eventually Spider-Man is going to go too far or bite off more than he can chew. I think one of these days my dad’s gonna need Spider-Man’s help.”

At least I could count on Gwen Stacy to lead my fan club. But now I knew the police didn’t know about the Vulture yet. Which meant I was Harry’s last line of defense if he decided to show his beak again. “Hey, we’ve got that physics test coming up. We should study together.”

“Definitely,” Harry said. “I can’t remember any of the equations. My place after school?

“I’m down,” Gwen said after checking her schedule. “But I have a student council meeting after school so I’ll be a little late.”

Once we got to school, Gwen ran off with Deb Whitman and Alistair Smythe from the student council. Homecoming was just around the corner so they had a lot to plan. Harry and I went to our civics class early. I thanked the scheduling gods that Harry and I shared first period.

“Anything exciting going on at Oscorp,” I asked him in what I hoped was a casual tone.

“Eh, not much. I think my dad is unveiling some new tech today. I’m glad I made plans with you and Gwen so I can skip it. Those events are always so boring, just a bunch of investors licking at my father’s shoes.”

“I think you’re just too used to it. Whatever new tech Oscorp’s got is probably exciting.”

“Nah, it’s tech flight. Hover boots and advanced mobility equipment. My dad’s gonna end up selling it to the military like everything else.”

“Tech flight?” No way Vulture would skip out on the reveal of his supposedly stolen work. “That sounds pretty wicked.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s been in the works for a while now, actually. I’m surprised they finished it this soon. My father had to fire the project leader a couple months back for security reasons.”

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I met him yesterday. “Really? What’d he do?”

“I don’t know. Honestly I never paid attention. You know all that corporate stuff doesn’t interest me.”

The bell rang before I could ask Harry anything else. I was so close to figuring this out. Not that I could ask Harry more questions without being suspicious. Instead I went online and tried to find some answers. I searched for ‘Oscorp employee fired’ and found a several month old news article published by the Daily Bugle. A man named Adrian Toomes had been accused of corporate espionage, selling company secrets to competitors. It was a small story with no picture, hardly even a paragraph long. No wonder Toomes was upset, no one even knew his name and meanwhile Norman throws a party claiming all Toomes’s work as his own. Still, that was no excuse to go all psycho on my best friend’s father.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. I met Harry out at the front of the school. A sleek black town car was waiting to take us to the Oscorp building. As much as I didn’t like to take advantage of Harry’s wealth, riding in fancy cars was always fun. Aunt May only had a Pontiac that was nearly as old as she was. My Uncle Ben had a motorcycle in the shed, but I’d never seen the thing run in my life. My eyes stung a little at the memory of Uncle Ben, but I rubbed them dry. I had a job to do, I had to stay focused and make Ben proud.

I was super nervous the whole ride to Oscorp. Harry glanced at me a couple times.

“Okay, what’s your deal?” He finally asked when I nearly slammed my head on the door while getting out of the car. “Did someone switch your smoothie with espresso this morning?”

“I don’t think so,” I laughed, tugging the sleeves of my jacket down to make sure my costume wasn’t showing.

“You can’t be this excited to study physics.”

“I guess I just have a lot of energy today.”

“Well, maybe we can go walk around Central Park after we’re done.” Harry led the way to the private elevator behind the security desk. He had to swipe a card and enter a passcode before the doors slid open. Norman took security seriously. Too bad he probably didn’t bird proof the building.

Once we got up to the top floor Harry went to grab snacks while I set up on the couch. Everytime I came here I couldn’t help but be shocked at the difference between mine and Harry’s lives. Just his living room was the size of my entire house. One of the walls was lined with floor to ceiling windows that looked down over Central Park. Off to the northeast, Avengers Tower stuck out above the other buildings. Harlem and the Bronx were just a haze in the distance. I used to get dizzy looking at this view.

Harry sat down next to me with an armful of chips and candy.

“Now we’re talking!” I grabbed some chocolate.

Harry laughed. “Try not to eat it all before Gwen gets here.”

“I promise nothing.”

“So what’s first on the study guide?”

“Planck’s constant.”

We spent the next hour quizzing each other and filling out the study guide. According to Oscorp’s website, the event would be starting soon several floors down. People would be gathered around right now waiting for Norman to start his speech. I couldn’t stop my leg from tapping up and down.

“Nice, we’re on the last page!” Harry leaned back. “My brain hurts.”

Suddenly the power flickered.

“What was that?” I straightened up. 

“Wires on the fritz?” Harry frowned.

Then an alarm started to blare. Harry and I jumped off the couch.

Harry pressed a button on his watch. “Disable alarm! Pull up security feed!”

The alarm cut off. The flatscreen flicked on, displaying hundreds of security cameras. One towards the bottom caught my attention.

“There!” I pointed.

Harry nodded. “Enlarge floor fourteen, camera forty-two!”

The screen showed a large room with a circular center stage lined with support columns. The window had been shattered. Guests were cowering in the corners. Norman stood on the stage, seemingly unafraid of the winged man hovering in front of him.

“That’s not part of the unveiling, is it?”

“No.” Harry said, his eyes wide. “I have to get down there!”

“Harry we have no idea what’s going on down there-”

“My dad’s in trouble, Peter, I have to help!”

And I couldn’t stand here and argue with him. My thoughts ran a mile a minute. “Fine, but I’m going too. You see if the elevator is still running, I’ll take the stairs. And use this fancy security system to call the police.”

“Got it. Thanks for backing me up, Pete.”

“You would do the same for me.”

We bumped our knuckles together, then he ran off to the elevator and I grabbed my bag and went for the stairs. I suspected the elevators would be locked, but that would give me the time I needed to change into my suit. As I ran down a couple flights, the power flickered off. Hopefully that meant the cameras were off too. I stripped my shirt and pants off and took my gloves and mask from my bag. Then I used my phone to light my way down to the fifteenth floor.

“Sorry, Norman, but this is for your own good,” I said and I ran down a hallway to the window ahead. I didn’t slow down, I just crossed my arms in front of my face and jumped through the glass. As I shot out into the open air, I twisted until I saw the massive hole in the building that the Vulture had made. I shot two webs at the steel beams on either side of the shattered windows and pulled. 

For a moment, my outward momentum only slowed, but I kept pressure on the webs and flung myself back into the building. I landed on a support pillar behind Vulture, who was advancing on Osborn. He seemed to be ignoring the other people in the room for now.

“Come now, Osborn,” Vulture was saying, “don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already? Or is it just too hard to keep track of how many lives you’ve ruined?”

“Adrian Toomes.” Norman regarded the Vulture with distaste. “I thought I told you never to come back here. You’re scaring my guests, please leave.”

Wow. I had to hand it to Norm, he was taking this considerably well. He must have nerves of steel or something, but all the courage in the world wouldn’t save Norman when Vulture decided to attack. 

I shot a web at the back of Vulture’s head. “Hey Vulture! I’m pretty sure this is a private event. I’m gonna have to ask to see your invitation.”

Vulture wheeled around. “You!”

“Me,” I agreed. “We’ve got a score to settle, Big Bird!”

“That we do, Spider-Man. I will destroy anyone who gets in the way of my legacy!” He turned back to Norman and thrust out his wing. Two of the metal feathers shot out and pinned Norman against a wall. “In the meantime, you stay put.”

Norman grunted at the impact. “Spider-Man! Toomes fried the security system, the police won’t be able to get up here!”

“Thanks for the heads up, Osborn.” I jumped on Vulture’s back while he was still turned around.

“Get off of me!” Vulture flew up and smashed me against the ceiling.

“Oof,” I gasped. If not for my natural stickiness, I would’ve been thrown for sure. I shot a web at one of the support beams and braced my legs against Vulture’s back, forcing him to fly directly into another column. His mask cracked right down the center, half of it falling to the ground. The face underneath was severely wrinkled, wisps of gray hair clung to the side of his head. I flipped off his back and webbed him more securely to the beam.

“Man you  _ are  _ old! Didn’t anyone tell you assault is a young man’s crime?”

While Toomes roared in rage and tried to free himself, I ran over to Norman. I pulled the metal feathers out of the wall. “That won’t hold him for long. You need to get all these people out of here while I figure out how to stop him, do you understand? Take the stairs. Vulture will be expecting you to go down, so go up, got it?”

Norman stared at me with his jaw hanging open. He was clearly not used to being given orders.

“Go, now!” I pushed him towards the stairs to give him a head start, then raised my voice so the others could hear me. “Everyone follow Osborn, he’ll get you out of here!”

They all jumped up and ran after Norman. Thankfully he was moving on his own now. If he followed my instructions he would intercept Harry before he got down here. And, knowing how paranoid Norman was, he would probably have some sort of safe room in the penthouse where they could all stay out of danger.

The last of the civilians were pushing through the door when Vulture used his wings to snap my webbing. He jumped up and flew at me. I rolled to the side and glanced back at the stairwell. Good, they were all out. I put a little more pressure than usual on my web shooters, spraying a thick barrier of webs over the exit. Now Vulture couldn’t follow.

Toomes made a noise of frustration when he saw Norman was gone. “No matter. Osborn is relatively easy to find. You on the other hand, are a nuisance that I’d rather deal with now!”

“I love being the center of attention,” I muttered, dodging more projectile feathers.

Vulture raised his wrists and shot several taser devices at me. I jumped and twisted midair, avoiding all of them.

“Sorry, V, but I don’t fall for the same trick twice.”

“Then I’ll show you some of my new ones!” Vulture charged me again. He made a fist, and a piece of metal slid over his knuckles, reinforcing the blow. He hit me right on the chest, flinging me back into the wall hard enough to crack the drywall.

“I thought old dogs couldn’t do that,” I groaned, struggling to stand.

The lights flickered back on. Norman must have figured out a way to reroute power to the security systems. Not that it would help me much now. Vulture stalked towards me with his wings held out menacingly. He was clearly enjoying this. At least one of us was. I shot webs at the vents again, but Toomes just laughed. “I rerouted the exhaust from my suit, Spider-Man. I won’t fall for the same trick either.”

He swung his wing forward, meaning to impale me, but I intercepted its arc with my fist, then did a backflip, kicking Vulture right in the jaw. He stumbled back. 

“Time for some of  _ my  _ new tricks, maybe you’ll recognize them.” I reached into the hidden pockets of my suit and flung Vulture’s taser device back at him. It landed on his right wing and unleashed a massive amount of electricity. “Hope you don’t mind, but I made some adjustments.”

“Aargh!” Vulture yelled as the electricity overloaded his battery pack and his wings started jerking around on shot circuits. He couldn’t control his suit anymore. He stumbled around, his malfunctioning tech pulling him off balance.

“Hey, watch out!” I shot several webs at Vulture’s wings as his wild dance led him dangerously close to the hole in the window. He teetered over the edge for a moment, but I gave one last pull and Vulture tumbled back inside, barely conscious.

The current from the taser finally stopped and Vulture’s wing suit powered down for good. I picked him up by his collar and tossed him against one of the pillars. Then I wrapped him in webs several times over. No way he could get out of it this time.

I surveyed the damage to the room. Looked like Norman would have to hold his event somewhere else. Then I noticed a camera pointed right at me, a red light flashing on its side. I had an audience. I bowed to the camera, then ran and jumped out the window. I swung to a nearby rooftop and watched as the police, fire department, and ambulances rolled in. I was content to just sit there and let myself rest, but a sudden vibration nearly made me fall off the roof.

I pulled my phone from my suit’s pockets. It now sported a large crack down the center. “Harry! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Pete, I’m fine,” I let out a sigh of relief at Harry’s voice. “Where are you? The elevator wasn’t working so I followed you down the stairs, but then the lights shut off and I found your bag and I thought-”

“Woah, Har,” I smiled at the concern in his voice. “I’m fine. When the lights shut off I figured the police wouldn’t be able to tell what was going on, so I went down to the lobby to let them know what was happening. Only now they won’t let me back in. Would you mind bringing my bag and physics homework to school tomorrow?”

“No problem. That was some quick thinking. Thanks for being there today, man.”

“I’m glad I could help. Talk tomorrow? I need to get home before Aunt May sees all this on the news and has a heart attack.”

“Yeah, talk tomorrow,” he agreed, sounding just about as tired as I was.

I put my phone back in the pocket. Maybe I should design something a little more protective than hidden pockets. A thin belt with lightly reinforced containers would be better. That was a thought for another day, though. I jumped off the building and started my journey home. 

I had to crawl up the side of the house and open my bedroom window to change my clothes before I went back out the window and up the steps to the porch. Couldn’t have May see me in my costume. She must have already heard the news. As soon as I opened the door she was there, fussing over me and inspecting me to make sure I wasn’t hurt.

“Aunt May I’m fine really. I was up with Harry in his bedroom, I never even saw any fighting!”

“New York is getting too dangerous,” May put a hand on her forehead. “Regular crime I can handle, but supervillains? I’m too old to deal with all these vultures and spider people.”

“What are they saying on the news?” I peeked at the t.v.

“They just keep showing the same footage over and over,” May sighed. “But now that I know you’re safe, I’m going to bed.”

I helped her to the stairs. “Goodnight, Aunt May.”

Osborn’s security had come back on in time to capture the last half of my fight with Vulture. The news had somehow gotten the footage which was the highest quality video of me yet. Seeing myself tossed into the wall by Vulture made my back ache, but when I started fighting back, I actually looked pretty cool.

Once little me bowed to the camera and thwiped out the window, the footage shrunk and a reporter came on screen. “Our sources say this unknown vigilante calls himself the Spider-Man. Before tonight he’s only been spotted foiling bank robberies and catching muggers. But with this recent development at Oscorp Industries, it seems like New York’s newest vigilante is capable of much more.”

I turned off the t.v. and made my way upstairs. All the pain from the last two days weighed me down, but I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself. No one had gotten hurt today, and that was because of me. Harry and his father were together because of me. Despite all my bruises, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

…

The next morning I was so sore I could hardly move. The bruising on my chest had almost faded thanks to my slightly advanced healing, but my ribs creaked when I sat up in bed. The cuts on my arm from my first encounter with Vulture hadn’t completely closed either. My suit didn’t look any better than I did. One lens had a slight fracture and the fabric was torn in more places than I could count. I folded it up and placed it at the bottom of my sock drawer. No more hero work until I could sew it up. I did slip my web shooters onto my wrists though. After all of the craziness I dealt with, I almost felt naked without them.

I was peeling a banana downstairs when something occurred to me. Adrian Toomes was driven by revenge. He attacked Norman in front of that huge crowd because he wanted Norman discredited like he had been. So why disable the security cameras? Why restrict his audience to just the people in that room? It could’ve been to prevent the police from moving against him, but Vulture was so cocky and sure of himself when we fought. Something didn’t add up. I had a bad feeling this was just the beginning of something bigger.

I walked up to the cafe just as Harry was dropped off at the curb. 

“How did Aunt May react to the news?” He held out my bag.

“Not great,” I admitted. “I thought for sure she was going to decide to move out of New York.”

Harry grimaced. “Good thing she didn’t, could you imagine living outside the city? I’d die of boredom if I had to live in some backwater town.”

“That makes two of us.” 

We walked into the cafe together. Gwen was waiting for us.

“I can’t believe I missed it!” She exclaimed as we sat down in the booth.

“Missed what?” Harry asked. “Getting attacked by a crazy guy in a mech suit?”

“Yeah! I was about to head over when my father called and told me to stay away! I was so worried about you guys!”

“Aww,” I looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “She really does care!”

Harry laughed and bumped my shoulder with his. I tried not to hiss in pain as my ribs were jostled. “Quit that out. And seriously, Gwen, you should be happy you weren’t there. It was kind of terrifying.”

“Oh come on,” Gwen frowned. “You guys got to be there when Spider-Man fought a supervillain!”

“Supervillain?” I asked.

Gwen nodded sagely. “A guy with superhuman abilities creating chaos fits my definition of a supervillain.”

“Then that makes Spider-Man a superhero,” Harry said thoughtfully. “I wonder when the Avengers will recruit him.”

“Hopefully we’ll never have to find out.” I rubbed my aching chest. “Harry’s right, that’s definitely not a situation I want to be in again.”

“No way, Pete. You should be a cop or something.” Harry turned to Gwen when I gave him the side eye. “I’m telling you, Gwen, you should have seen him, he was a natural. I was sitting there all panicked and Peter lays out this plan like he’s been doing it all his life! If you were that confident all the time, there’s no way you’d be Flash’s punching bag!”

My face burned at Harry’s compliment. “Sorry to disappoint you Harry, but I think that was a one time thing. And it really wasn’t that cool.”

“He’s being modest,” Harry rolled his eyes.

Gwen laughed. “Bravery from Peter Parker? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“What, you don’t think I could be brave?” I protested.

“And there goes his modesty,” Gwen leaned back in her seat.

I glared at her while Harry laughed.

Gwen shushed him. “Now onto the real news.”

Harry and I frowned at each other. “My father being attacked by the Vulture wasn’t real news?”

“It was the inspiration for real news,” Gwen grinned. “The Midtown High student council has decided to honor Spider-Man and his first major victory by having our homecoming theme as superheroes!”

I let my head drop to the table. Harry placed a hand on his forehead. “That was your big news? C’mon Gwen, you know that school dances aren’t really mine and Peter’s thing. You might be part of the in crowd but that’s a life we’ll never know.”

“Stop being dramatic, Harry. Dances are for everyone!”

“Everyone who can get dates,” I muttered, my head still down.

“Ms. Student Council over here probably has her date already.” Harry folded his arms.

“I’ll admit several boys have already asked me, but that’s beside the point! This will be the first event I organize as student council president, you guys have to come!”

I lifted my gaze. “Does it really mean that much to you?”

“No, Peter, don’t give in!” Harry groaned. “You can’t let her sad eyes get to you!”

But it was too late. Gwen nodded with pleading eyes. She clasped her hands together by her chest and pouted.

“And it’s over.” Now it was Harry’s turn to drop his head on the table.

“Look, Gwen.” I sighed, “Harry and I will try to find dates, if that’s what you want.”

Gwen grabbed my hands and bounced up and down in her seat. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys won’t regret it, I promise!”

When we got to school Gwen said a quick goodbye and went to find her student council lackeys. Harry punched my shoulder as soon as she was out of view.

“What was that for?” I rubbed my arm.

“You! Agreeing to go to the stupid dance!”

“She was giving me those big eyes of hers,” I tried to defend myself.

Harry pointed at me. “And I told you not to look!”

“It probably won’t be  _ that  _ bad,” I tried to see a bright side, but came up with nothing . “Besides, it’s the least we can do. How many times has she come to our robotics competitions?”

“She’s never missed a single one,” Harry admitted. “But now we have to find dates by next Friday. Do you even know how to do that?”

“No. I kinda figured we could skip the embarrassment and just go stag together.”

Harry looked sideways at me. “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, what does that look mean?”

“What look?” Harry asked innocently. “We should get to class.”

He picked up his pace, leaving me to follow.

“There was totally a look,” I muttered and walked after him.

…

After school Harry and I got some ice cream and walked around the city for a while. As much as I loved being Spider-Man in my freetime, I realized I missed just hanging out with Harry like this. I really needed to work out a better balance between my two lives. Then Harry got a text from his dad.

“Sorry, Pete,” Harry shrugged. “Duty calls.”

“Seeya tomorrow.” I stared after him as he walked off towards Oscorp. I dropped down on a park bench. “What do I do now?”

I definitely needed some materials to fix my suit, but my wallet was painfully light. What I really needed was a job. But if I was already stressed out, adding more responsibility to the mix wasn’t going to help. I sighed and started to head home. Maybe I could find something to fix the crack in the lens in the shed out back.

I fell asleep on the train and almost missed my stop. I was still exhausted from the fight with Toomes. My body was probably using all its energy to heal. I put in my earbuds to keep myself awake the rest of the way home. I couldn’t find any resin in the shed to repair the crack, but robotics wasn’t my only strong suit. I went into the laundry room and found anti-yellowing powder next to the detergent. I looked at the label. Oxalic acid, perfect. Next stop was the bathroom upstairs. I liberated some of May’s Sorbitol. Chemistry 101: if you combine a dibasic acid and a polyhydric alcohol, you get resin. 

Aunt May had left a note on the fridge saying she was visiting with Mrs. Watson next door, so I didn’t have to worry about her walking in on me. I grabbed my mask and went to the kitchen. I mixed my ingredients together in a pot and heated them up on the stove. Once they were thoroughly combined I used a q-tip and applied the clear substance to the crack and waited for it to set.

I was inspecting my handiwork, bopping my head to the music when I felt that tingle run down my back again. I ripped out my earbuds and spun around, hiding my mask behind my back.

There was a girl standing in the doorway. She had her red hair pulled back in a ponytail and a smile on her lips. “Wow, jump much?”

I laughed nervously. “Uh, do I know you?”

“Oh right.” I shoved my mask under a towel as she walked up to me and held out her hand. “I’m Mary Jane. My aunt is having tea and crackers with your aunt, but they ran out of dip so they sent me over here to get some.”

I shook her hand, feeling like my heart was trying to jump into my throat. “Well I can help you with that.”

I opened one of the cabinets and grabbed two different dips. “Um, onion or spinach?”

“I’ll just take both,” Mary Jane awkwardly took them from me. “I’m sorry for scaring you, your aunt didn’t say you were home.”

“I wasn’t scared,” I stammered. “Just...startled is all. I’m Peter, by the way.”

“Well then I’m sorry for startling you, Peter.” She made her way back to the door. “Maybe I’ll see you around, tiger.”

I was too busy staring after her to return her goodbye, but she didn’t wait for one. She just shut the door behind her, gone as quick as she came. Then I jolted to my senses when I remembered the resin cooling in one of Aunt May’s favorite pots. I started to clean up my mess, my heart still pounding in my chest.

I was laying on the couch, finishing up some homework when Aunt May came home. I tried to ignore her, but it was no use. She was staring at me.

“So Mary Jane told me she ran into you earlier.”

“Mmhmm,” I hummed, not taking my eyes off of my work.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?”

“Nope,” I jumped up from the couch and grabbed all my homework, nearly dropping several papers. “I am not having this conversation with you, Aunt May. I’ll be in my room.”

I ran upstairs, trying to hide my face from May’s laughter.


	3. Out of the Frying Pan...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tries his best to figure out who is targeting the Osborn's, but things keep getting in the way. Like problems with his best friend, the appearance of the girl next door, and of course new villains popping out of the woodwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll warn you guys, this chapter is really long, but I couldn't find a good place to cut it. I would've liked to include more at the end but that's just gonna have to wait until Monday.

I was hoping to avoid further embarrassment, but I ran into Mary Jane again the next morning on my way to catch the train. She was waiting at the bus stop on the corner. I debated turning around when I saw her, but then she saw me and waved.

“Hi, Mary Jane,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Call me MJ, Mary Jane is a bit of a mouthful,” she said. Was I crazy, or did she sound just as nervous as I was? “Look, I know yesterday wasn’t really the best first impression...”

I laughed. “No, it was a little awkward.”

“Right. Maybe we can try it again, hang out sometime? ”

“Y-yeah, sure.” I shifted my weight. “Do you uh, go to school in Manhattan?”

She shook her head. “No, I go to Forest Hills Highschool. My mom and my step dad went on a vacation and didn’t want me throwing any parties so I’m staying with my Aunt Anna for a while.”

She pointed at my hand. I had several bandaids on my fingers. “What did you do?”

I was helpless to stop the blush that spread across my face. “I was doing some sewing last night. I’m not too good at it.”

“Sewing?” MJ tilted her head, causing her bangs to fall over one eye. “I don’t know many boys who can sew.”

“My Aunt May taught me,” I explained. “She was sick of fixing holes in my clothes so she showed me how to do it instead.”

We stood in silence for a few seconds before I realized I was going to miss my train if I stood here any longer. “Well, I have to go, but we should totally hang. Uh, I’m busy today but maybe you could join me and my friends in the city tomorrow?”

MJ’s bus was coming down the street.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” MJ agreed. She fished a pen from her pocket and grabbed my hand. “Here’s my number, text me the details.”

Before I could say anything else she waved goodbye and climbed into the bus. I stood there as it drove away. Was I ever going to get to say goodbye to that girl? 

“Oh crap, the train!”

I ran the rest of the way to the station. My heart didn’t stop pounding the whole ride. I just asked MJ to hang, where did that come from? I wasn’t usually this brave outside the spider suit. I definitely needed help. I burst into the cafe, drawing Harry’s and Gwen’s attention.

“We have an emergency, guys.” I showed them the numbers scrawled on my palm. “Remember how I told you my aunt keeps trying to set me up with that girl?”

“No way,” Gwen grabbed my hand to inspect the number, like she expected it to disappear. “Peter Parker got a girl’s number?”

“Wow,” Harry said. “How did that happen?”

I glanced at Harry, something in his voice seemed off. Maybe something happened with his dad yesterday? “She just walked into my house, no doubt one of May’s schemes to get us to meet.”

Gwen let go of my hand. “Okay, I’ll bite. Is she cute or what?”

“You can see for yourself tomorrow. I invited her to hang out with us.”

“Tomorrow?” Harry looked down. “I can’t, my dad is making me come with him to a meeting.”

“What?” I felt my stomach drop. “You’ll be there, right, Gwen?”

“You don’t need to look so terrified, I’ll be there.” Gwen was really enjoying this.

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Harry was quiet the whole walk to school. He didn’t even talk as we sat down in class. Something was definitely up with him.

“So your dad wants you to go to a meeting, huh?” I tried to get him talking while we were waiting for class to start.

“Yeah. He says it’s time I get more involved in Oscorp.”

“Are you ever gonna tell him?”

“What? That I’d rather die than take over the family business?” Harry shook his head. “He’d disown me! I’m already a disappointment to him, that would be the final straw.”

“You’re not a disappointment, Harry. If Norman can’t see how awesome you are, then that’s his fault. You just need to talk to him.”

Harry gave me that weird look again. Then he shook his head, suddenly angry. “You just don’t get the kind of pressure he’s putting me through. You don’t have the future of an entire company holding you down. You don’t even have a-”

He stopped himself before he could continue, but I knew what he was going to say. I didn’t have a father, I didn’t even have a father figure anymore, so I couldn’t possibly understand what Harry was going through. I looked away, a tightness flooding my chest. I felt like Vulture’s talons were digging into my ribs again. 

“Pete, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” Harry pursed his lips, waiting for my reaction.

The bell rang and our teacher started the lesson. I tried to say something to Harry, but my voice didn’t seem to want to cooperate, so I just stared at my desk. I knew he didn’t really mean it, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. Harry didn’t say anything else for the rest of class.

I passed the rest of the day in a haze. I had way too much on my brain. I needed to figure out who Vulture was working for, get over my anxiety about tomorrow, and figure out what to say to Harry. I wasn’t mad at him, I really wasn’t, so why was this so hard?

The final bell rang and I made my way to my locker. I grabbed my bag and went to the bathroom to put on my costume underneath my clothes. I was about to leave when I heard Harry’s voice around the corner. I ducked back into the bathroom.

“I really did it this time, Gwen,” Harry was saying. “He’s never gonna talk to me again.”

“This is Peter we’re talking about,” Gwen replied. “I’m sure he’s already gotten over it, you just need to talk to him.”

“You didn’t see his face,” Harry insisted, his voice dripping with misery.

“If you would just be honest and have a real conversation with him, everything would be fine,” Gwen scolded him.

Honest about what? That didn’t seem to fit with the situation. But their voices grew too quiet to hear as they walked away. I shook my head to clear my mind. I could talk to Harry tomorrow, right now there was something I had to do. I slipped out of the bathroom, out the back of the school, and finally out of my street clothes. I yanked on my mask and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I climbed up the nearest building, then jumped off the edge to gain speed. I swung my way north towards Oscorp. I didn’t know the first place to look for Vulture’s sponsor, so it was time to pay a visit to someone who might.

Fifteen minutes later I was at the Oscorp building. I swung all the way to the top floor, crawling around until I was at the window looking into Norman’s office. He was inside, looking at something on his computer. I knocked on the glass, causing him to nearly fall out of his chair in surprise.

“Knock, knock,” I said against the glass.

“Spider-Man?” Norman gasped.

“That’s not how the joke goes. You’re supposed to say who's there!” I pointed inside. “Mind letting me in? We need to talk.”

Norman considered for a moment, then opened the window. I crawled in and onto the ceiling. “You helped me get rid of Toomes, that buys you five minutes. Make it quick.”

“That’s just it, Mr. Osborn, I don’t think the danger is past.”

Norman raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“The first time I fought Vulture, he kept mentioning a sponsor. After you fired him, he must have gone to someone else for funding. No offense, but his turkey costume was much more advanced than the party favors you were showing off the other day.”

“I hate to admit it, but you’re right. Even so, why should I care who funded that lunatic?”

I dropped down from the ceiling. “I have a feeling his sponsor isn’t a fan of yours either.”

“A feeling,” Norman scoffed. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Spider-Man. You don’t get to be as successful as I am without making enemies. Still, I am here. I’m not going to be scared off by a man in a ‘turkey costume’, as you so eloquently put it.”

I wasn’t getting through to him. Time to try a different angle. “Sir, I was thinking about how Vulture targeted your security systems. What if he was just a distraction while his sponsor did the real damage? Have you noticed any corrupted or missing files in your computer system?”

Norman frowned, a spark of anger in his eyes. I was definitely into something. “I think it’s time you left.”

“Norman, please, let me help you,” I pleaded.

“I can manage just fine without you. Now leave, before I call security and the police.”

I knew Norm well enough to know he wasn’t going to change his mind. “Just remember I tried to help you.”

“Is that a threat?” Norman’s face darkened.

I shook my head. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to prevent anyone from getting hurt.”

Norman narrowed his eyes like my motives confused his selfish, corporate mind. I didn’t stick around any longer. I flipped onto the wall, then launched myself back out through the window. So much for that. I’d just have to be content that Norman was aware of the danger. He did have a point, though. That man must have hundreds of competitors who could be behind Vulture. There wasn’t anything else I could do but wait if Norman wasn’t willing to accept my help. Harry was right, I couldn’t imagine what it was like to have someone that thick headed as a father.

I landed on a lamp post and checked my phone. There was a text from Gwen.

“I’ve got the perfect thing for tomorrow night,” I read out loud. “Bring your girlfriend and meet me at Penn Station at five, bring money for pizza.”

I sent Gwen a response that tactfully read SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND.

I started a new conversation, entering in MJ’s number. I didn’t even have to look, I accidentally memorized it. 

_ Is it cool if I come get you around 4:30 tomorrow? _

I hit send. Almost immediately my phone buzzed again.

_ Sure you don’t want me to meet you at your house?  _

“Oh god no.” I typed up my reply.

_ How about we just meet by the street and keep both of our aunts out of this? _

MJ’s response was a single word:  _ Deal _ .

I laughed and slipped my phone into my bag.

I leapt off the lamp and started swinging east. I was going to need a full night of sleep if I was going to be ready for whatever Gwen had up her sleeve. I prayed it wasn’t going to be anything too extreme.

…

I stood in front of my mirror the next night, wondering if I should wear my suit underneath my clothes. I didn’t plan on being Spider-Man tonight, but what if something happened? With Gwen in charge of tonight, I didn’t want to take any chances. I slipped on the spider-onesie, then added a dark blue button up over it, then pulled on a jacket to hide the sleeves. I inspected myself in the mirror, pushing my hair around before deciding I looked as good as I ever would.

I took the stairs two at a time. “Bye, Aunt May! I’m going out with friends!”

“Which friends?” She called from the kitchen.

“Just Gwen,” I paused as I opened the door. I debated for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. She was going to find out sooner or later, better that she hear it from me now. “And MJ, seeyoulaterbye!” 

I slammed the door behind me before she could say anything. MJ was waiting for me on the sidewalk. She was wearing a black top, a leather jacket, and a red skirt that went almost to her knees. Her hair was still in a ponytail. She saw me staring and brushed the skirt out with her hands. “I hope I’m not overdressed, you didn’t exactly give me many details.”

“I didn’t get any, Gwen likes to be mysterious.” I took a breath before adding, “And don’t worry, you look great.” 

“Same to you, tiger,” she smiled. “Shall we go?”

I nodded and we walked off to the train station. The ride wasn’t nearly as awkward as I thought it would be. We just started talking. Apparently her Aunt Anna had been pressuring MJ to meet me just as much as Aunt May had been pushing me to meet her. MJ told me about her school. She was part of the drama club and the volleyball team, the best one in her division. I told her some stories about Harry and Gwen and all the trouble we got into. By the time the twenty minute train ride had ended, I didn’t feel nervous at all anymore.

We met Gwen across the street from Madison Square Garden.

“So you’re Mary Jane!” Gwen smiled. “I’m so excited to meet you!”

“This is Gwen Stacy,” I told MJ.

“So, Gwen Stacy,” MJ smirked, “what have you got planned for us tonight?”

“Peter, you remember Liz Allan’s older brother Mark, right?” I nodded. “Well his band Willow and the Wisps are playing at an underground venue in Greenwich tonight.”

MJ clapped her hands together in excitement. “An underground band? Ms. Stacy, you and I are going to be best friends.”

Gwen and MJ talked the whole walk there, but now that I wasn’t overthinking tonight, my thoughts drifted back to Harry. I really didn’t like how we left things this morning. The sooner I could talk to him, the better.

The concert went really well, Mark and his band were actually pretty good. MJ seemed to love them. That or she just loved the whole vibe. I watched her and Gwen jumping up and down to the music and found it hard not to join in. At one point Liz Allan appeared with Sally Avril and several other girls from Midtown High. Gwen introduced Mary Jane as my friend from Queens and they stared at me in shock, no doubt surprised that I had any friends besides Harry.

At one point MJ and I were by the bar getting water. Mark slammed out the final chord in the song and the room fell relatively quiet while the band took a break. As I handed MJ her bottle, I felt that tingling sensation flash down my spine again. I glanced behind me, a man was watching something on his phone with his girlfriend. 

“Oscorp just can’t catch a break.”

I felt like someone dropped a whole bag of ice down my shirt. I stepped closer to the couple. “Did you just say Oscorp?”

The man looked up and showed me his phone. It was live footage from a news helicopter. There was a fire at Oscorp. Harry was there.

MJ saw my face and grabbed my arm. “Woah, Peter, are you okay? You look sick.”

“I have to go,” I said, pulling away from her.

“Go? What do you mean? Go where?”

But I was already pushing my way through the crowd. I got out onto the street and started running, looking in every direction for somewhere to change into my costume. I ducked behind a dumpster and tugged my jacket and shirt off so violently I heard fabric tear. I put on my mask and yanked on my gloves and web shooters. I kicked my shoes off as I ran up the side of the building, flipping onto the roof. I checked to make sure my web shooters were at the right PSI, then jumped off the building, swinging as fast as I could to Oscorp. I passed several fire trucks as I got closer. The night sky took on an orange glow that was completely different from the regular lights of the city. The first of the fire trucks arrived as I stared in dismay at the raging inferno that took up the top half of Oscorp Tower.

Movement on a nearby rooftop caught my eye. I saw a large silhouette of a man holding something long and cylindrical. Then the man turned and jumped up to another roof and I realized what I had mistaken for a separate object was a tail curling up from the man’s back. I had a split second to wonder if I was going crazy when an explosion brought my attention back to the fire. 

“I’m coming, Harry.” I swung my way to the Oscorp building and ran up the side. I had to dodge falling glass and several chunks of concrete. The larger debris I webbed to the side of the building so it wouldn’t hurt anybody on the street below. As I approached the floors with fire, the heat got intense. The glass I ran over was superheated and seared my feet. I ignored the pain and kept running. I jumped through a broken window where the flames weren’t as intense. For some reason the sprinkler system wasn’t working. I ran through the building, shooting webs at every sprinkler head I saw. The impact broke the nozzles and sent water spraying over everything. I activated as many as I could on each floor, searching for anyone trapped by the fire. So far it seemed like everyone had been able to evacuate. I hoped Harry had managed to get out in time too. Finally I reached the penthouse. The flames had only just reached this floor, but smoke from the lower levels clogged the entire room.

“Hello?” I called out, my voice rough from all the smoke I’d already inhaled. “Is anyone still in here?”

“Over here!” A voice came from the kitchen. I ran to the voice, jumping onto the countertop. Harry was sitting on the floor with a wet hand towel pressed over his mouth and nose.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw me. “Spider-Man!”

“You need to come with me,” I held out my hand. Harry grabbed it and I helped him up. “Stay low and stay close. Is anyone else on this floor?”

Harry shook his head. “My dad went downstairs right before that crazy guy came.”

Crazy guy? Could Harry be talking about that man I saw running from the fire? I didn’t have time to ask him now, the fire was spreading quickly, soon this whole floor would be up in flames. I led Harry to the windows. “Get down.”

Harry crouched behind the couch as I grabbed a chair and threw it as hard as I could through the window. I webbed the chair back inside before it could fall and gestured for Harry to come closer. “Grab my shoulders and hold on tight, got it?”

“Got it.” Harry grabbed onto me. It was a little awkward because Harry was a couple inches taller than me, but as soon as I was sure he was secure, I ran at the window.

“First time flyers buckle up!” I shouted as I jumped through the window and dove down. Harry screamed as we fell. I felt his hands start to slip from around my neck, so I placed one of my hands over his to keep him steady. I waited until we fell past the floors that were still on fire before I shot a web and swung us down to the street. Our landing scared the crowd that had gathered to watch the fire.

I set Harry down gently. “Are you alright? No burns, no scratches?”

“I’m fine, thanks to you.” Harry coughed. “Well, maybe my throat’s a little dry.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “Thank God I made it here in time.”

“What?” Harry looked up at me.

I cleared my throat. “You said you saw a crazy guy?”

“Um, yeah. I saw him on the security feed,” Harry rubbed the smoke stains from his arms. “He was super tall and wearing a metal suit with a huge tail tipped with some kind of stinger. He caused the fire.”

“First Vulture and now a scorpion? Why does your family attract all the costumed crazies?”

Harry looked me up and down. Right,  _ I  _ was one of those costumed crazies.

“Don’t look at me like that, I see the irony.”

Harry laughed, but it soon turned into ragged coughing. I called out for the attention of a nearby ambulance worker. The fire was starting to die down thanks to all of the sprinklers I broke. The good thing about secret identities was that Norman wouldn’t be able to bill me for the damage.

“Now, not that I wouldn’t mind rescuing you again, but do you think you could stay out of trouble for the rest of the night?”

Harry’s face flushed red. Was that from his coughing fit? “I-I’ll try, Spider-Man.”

The EMT was on his way over, so I gave Harry a salute. “Seeya later!”

I webslinged myself up to the roof where I saw the man with the tail. There were claw marks on the roof where he jumped up to the next building. I followed the marks across a couple roofs until I lost the trail. I kicked the metal bars supporting a water tower in frustration.

I decided to swing back to the alley where I left my clothes. By some miracle they were still there. I picked up my shirt, examining the tear in it before dropping it again. I put on my jacket and zipped it up over my suit. I checked my phone. Ten messages from MJ and five missed calls from Gwen. I sighed and dialed Harry’s number. The line went to voicemail.

“Harry, are you okay? I saw the fire on the news. Please call me when you get this.”

I sat in the alley with my head in my hands a few more minutes trying to calm myself down. My heart was still racing as fast as it was when the guy at the concert showed me his phone. My phone vibrated, probably Gwen or MJ texting me again. I was gonna be in so much trouble for ditching them. I looked at my phone screen. It was a text from Harry!

_ Sorry I missed your call,  _ it read, _ my lungs hurt too much to talk right now. I’m fine, but my dad insists that I stay at the hospital overnight. Meet you and Gwen Monday morning for smoothies? _

_ Of course,  _ I replied.

Now to put out the fires with the girls. I called Gwen. She answered after the first ring.

“Peter Benjamin Parker,” I held my phone away from my ear as she yelled, “you better have a good reason for running out on us!”

“There was a fire at Oscorp, I had to go make sure Harry was okay.”

Gwen was silent for a moment. I could imagine her trying to decide between concern for Harry and anger at me. When she spoke again her voice was tight, but at least she wasn’t screaming anymore. “And is he?”

“He’s fine. He’s gonna stay at the hospital tonight, though. Probably because of all the smoke he inhaled.” I rubbed my chest. My lungs weren’t in the best condition either.

“Are  _ you  _ okay?” Gwen asked.

“Me? Yeah I’m fine...just a little shaken up is all.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Still wanna get pizza?”

“Yeah, MJ and I will meet you at that place at seventh and sixteenth.” Gwen ended the call.

I ducked into a fast food restaurant and washed all the ash from my face in the bathroom. I still smelled like smoke, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. A couple minutes later I was at the pizza place. MJ and Gwen were waiting outside for me. MJ ran up to me when she saw me. For a second I thought she was going to hug me, but instead she punched me on the arm.

“Ow,” I complained.

“What were you thinking, running off like that?” MJ demanded, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “You scared me and Gwen half to death!”

Gwen nodded from behind MJ.

“I’m really sorry guys, I wasn’t thinking. I saw that video and kind of panicked.”

“You and that Harry kid must be pretty close, huh?” MJ said quietly.

I shrugged helplessly. “He’s my best friend.”

MJ put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. “Then I guess I forgive you. So much for our first impression redo, though.”

“Redo?” Gwen asked. “Was the first time that bad?”

“I’ll tell you over a slice of pizza,” MJ said. “I’m starving.”

By the time I said goodnight to MJ and walked up the steps to my porch, I was ready to pass out. I was furious at Norman. If he had just accepted my help and pointed me in the right direction I might have been able to stop the mysterious scorpion man before he set the fire. 

Despite how late it was, Aunt May was waiting up for me. “So how did your date, I mean night go?”

“Smooth, Aunt May,” I gave her a small smile.

Aunt May sniffed the air and knit her eyebrows together. “Peter, honey, why do you smell like the back of a Jersey gas station?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” I promised her. “But as for my completely platonic hang out with Mary Jane...I had a good time. A really, really exhausting time, but a good one.”

I stayed up just long enough to wash my suit, then collapsed into bed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

…

When I woke up I instantly regretted it. My lungs felt even worse than last night and my throat was drier than the Mohave desert. My arms were sore from swinging across the city so fast. I went to the bathroom and grabbed a bag of cough drops, then went right back to bed. I glanced at the clock and nearly choked on the lozenge. 

It was four in the afternoon! I slept nearly the whole day. I checked my phone, but the only message I had was from MJ.

_ Last night was fun, I should hang out with your friends more often! I hope Harry’s okay. _

I smiled at her concern.

Speaking of Harry, I needed to track down the pyro from last night. Adrian Toomes had a personal vendetta with Norman, maybe this new guy had a similar motive? I spent a couple hours scouring the internet for more evidence of disgruntled or wronged Oscorp employees, but came up empty.

I pulled up the police reports and news coverage from the fire. After reading through pages and pages of useless information, I hit gold. There was evidence of an accelerant, but the police couldn’t tell what it was. It appeared to be corrosive to the surfaces it was found on, but with the burn pattern overlapping the other damage it was impossible to tell what the corrosive component was. The arson investigators reported finding a residue similar to that left by nitromethane. That was weird. The most common accelerants were usually different forms of distilled propane like gasoline, butane, and kerosine. Nitromethane was something used in drag races, not arson.

I changed my search for other fires with evidence of nitromethane. I did not like the results. There were several murders about ten years ago, the bodies were all burned using nitromethane. A guy named MacDonald Gargan was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, but after only a year in Rikers he was transferred to Ravencroft Mental Institute.

There was no record of him after that. It could all be a coincidence. Afterall, there was nothing to suggest Gargan was anywhere but locked away in a padded cell, not to mention not a single shred of evidence that connected him to Oscorp or Norman Osborn. Still, there were too many similarities for my liking. Maybe I’d pay Norman another visit and see if he could connect the dots for me.

I got up and tried to put my spider suit on, but my breathing became rough and painful even after one attempt. I kicked my costume under my bed and promised myself I’d talk to Osborn tomorrow. Right now I needed to rest and heal. I popped another cough drop in my mouth and laid back down. 

Next thing I knew, my alarm was going off. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. I checked my phone. Sure enough, it was Monday morning. I turned off the alarm, got dressed and stumbled downstairs. At least I could do that without my lungs refusing to work. A warm, buttery smell was coming from the kitchen. I followed my nose to the kitchen table. A plate stacked high with delicious, golden brown wheatcakes sat in the center of the table.

Aunt May was setting down two plates and a bottle of syrup. “Good morning, dear. You slept right through dinner yesterday, and you just seemed so tired lately so I didn’t wake you up, but you must be starving. Sit down and eat before you leave for school.”

“This is amazing, thanks!” I grabbed four wheatcakes and drowned them in syrup.

Aunt May watched with an amused smile as I tried to eat all four at once.

“You were right about Mary Jane,” I said around a mouthful of carbs. “She’s pretty cool. She and Gwen are like, best friends now.” 

“If you had listened to me you could’ve met her ages ago.”

“You were trying to get us to date.” I swallowed and drank half a glass of milk. “MJ and I compared notes, you and Mrs. Watson weren’t exactly subtle.”

“Isn’t homecoming this week? You could invite her!” Aunt May was determined, I’ll give her that. I won’t deny the thought had crossed my mind. MJ seemed into me at least a little, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a crush on her, but something held me back.

“We just met, Aunt May,” I protested. “I’m more than happy to just be friends with her.”

“Fine,” Aunt May was quiet for a moment. “But you two would make such a cute couple!”

“All right, I have to get to school.” I got up and washed my plate.

Aunt May laughed and continued eating her wheatcakes. “Have a good day, sweetie.”

…

I tried to look into Ravencroft on the train ride into Manhattan, but I couldn’t find anything out of place. I chewed on my lip. There had to be something I was missing. 

I walked into the cafe. Gwen wasn’t here yet, that was weird. Harry was sitting in our usual spot. I slid next to him in the booth.

“How are you, man?” I asked.

“Are you still mad at me?” Harry blurted out, completely ignored my question. “I am so sorry-”

“Harry,” I cut him off with a smile. “I’m not mad. I get it. I just want you to know that I’m always gonna have your back, no matter what.”

Harry let himself relax. “I really don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like you. I still feel like a jerk.”

“The past is the past, bro,” I assured him.

Harry grinned. “Nothing like a near death experience to put things into perspective, huh?”

“Yeah.” A thought started to form in the back of my mind, but before I could get a grip on it, Gwen walked in.

“Sorry I’m late, fellas.”

“It’s just after seven, you’re still early,” I said.

“Yeah early for you maybe,” Gwen said pointedly. “Are you okay, Harry? It’s been a crazy couple of days for Oscorp. Still, getting to stay at a fancy hotel isn’t the worst outcome.”

“Actually, something weird did happen,” Harry frowned.

I leaned forward. Did Harry know something that could help me track down the arsonist?

“After Spider-Man got me out of the building…”

Gwen and I were hanging on his every word.

“I think Spider-Man flirted with me.”

“What?” I exclaimed a little too loudly. 

Gwen tented her fingers with an attitude of extreme seriousness. “What evidence do you have to present to the court.”

“He said, and I quote, ‘Not that I wouldn’t mind rescuing you again, but do you think you could stay out of trouble’.”

Did I really say that? My face felt like it was about to explode. My lungs went on strike, but it had nothing to do with smoke damage.

“That is some pretty damning evidence,” Gwen admitted.

I tried to think of any way I could deny the accusation without outing myself as Spider-Man, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say in my defense. I flirted with Harry. I sat there, my face slowly turning more and more red.

“Do you think he does that with everyone he saves?” Harry wrung his hands. “He probably does, right?”

Gwen was about to answer, but then she glanced at my face and its uncanny resemblance to a ripe tomato and burst out laughing. I hid my face in my hands, but that only made Gwen laugh harder.

“Why are you laughing?” Harry demanded. “This is serious! Peter, say something, I’m freaking out over here!”

I  _ flirted  _ with Harry! I peeked out at him from between my fingers, but I still couldn’t trust myself to speak. This was the single most embarrassing thing that had ever happened in my entire life.

“I think Peter’s jealous,” Gwen managed to gasp out between giggles.

I couldn’t survive this. I pulled up the hood of my jacket, dropped my head down on the table, and waited for death.

“Quit messing around, Gwen,” Harry sighed. “He probably didn’t mean anything by it, I mean, he’s a superhero why would he flirt with  _ me? _ ”

“If you say so, Harry.”

Somehow I managed to keep breathing, but the panicked feeling in my chest remained. I thought about the dread I felt seeing Oscorp on fire, knowing Harry could be inside. I thought about how fast I had crossed the city to get to him. I even got there before the fire trucks. The second we got to school, I grabbed Gwen’s hand and dragged her away. “I need Gwen’s help on my biology homework,” I called back to Harry. “I’ll see you in class.”

I pulled Gwen with me to a deserted corner of the library.

“What is this really about,” Gwen snatched her arm back, “Mr. Warren didn’t assign homework this weekend.”

“I know, I just,” I took a deep breath and tried to gather my racing thoughts. “Look, we both know that Spider-Man did flirt with Harry.”

“Beyond a doubt,” Gwen agreed with a knowing smile. “And that made you jealous.”

I bit my lip. “Let’s just say it made me realize something.”

“Well spit it out already!”

“I think I might have a crush on Harry,” I said miserably.

“Finally!”

“What?” I stared at Gwen, horrified. “What do you mean  _ finally _ ?”

“Boy, you have had a crush on Harry Osborn since the moment I met you two!”

I pressed my back against the wall and sank down to the floor. I couldn’t believe this. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I had a secret bet with myself on how long it would take you to figure it out,” Gwen waved her hand like it was no big deal. She sat down next to me. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I put my head between my knees.

“And what about Mary Jane?” Gwen asked.

I whipped my head back up so fast I knocked it against the wall. “You know about that too?”

“Peter Parker, you are the smartest, most oblivious person I have ever met.” I groaned and Gwen rubbed my back. “Aw, it’s okay Pete.”

I failed to see how any of this was okay.

“Look at it this way,” she said, “now you have two potential dates to the dance!”

“Ask Harry?” I choked out. “I couldn’t- he’s not- he wouldn’t-”

“Not if you can’t complete a full sentence he won’t!”

I looked up at Gwen with pleading eyes, begging her to help me.

“Don’t you dare look at me with those big brown doe eyes. Show some backbone, Peter! If you don’t ask Harry to the dance, someone else will. Maybe he’ll go with Spider-Man.” Gwen giggled.

At least I knew that wouldn’t happen. Still, she was right. If Spider-Man could accidentally flirt with Harry, then I should be able to ask him to a dance we had already agreed to go to, right? Before I could debate with myself anymore, the bell rang. I was late to class...my class with Harry.

I looked at Gwen. “I can’t go to class. Harry’s in my first period!”

“Yes you can,” Gwen grabbed my hand and pulled me up, giving my fingers one final squeeze before letting go. “Be brave, Parker.”

With that she ran to her class. I stood there for a few seconds before walking to mine. Mr. Harrington was in the middle of a sentence when I walked in.

“Peter, so glad you could join us.” He waited until I sat down before continuing.

“Where have you been?” Harry whispered.

“That bio thing took longer than I thought,” I lied.

I couldn’t focus at all during class. It was like all of my heightened senses were focused on Harry. I was hyper aware of every little movement he made. Why was I so pathetic? Harry had been my best friend for a decade, I was usually more comfortable around him than anyone else. Now I jumped every time his breathing changed.

Soon class ended. The bell rang and everyone started filing out of class. All except for me. I was glued to my seat. Harry got halfway to the door before he noticed I wasn’t following.

“Hey,” he waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Parker. Class is over, let’s go.”

I got up and followed him. Once we were out the door, Harry turned to go to his next class. 

“See you after school,” he waved as he walked away.

I opened my mouth to call him back, but no words came out. What was I thinking? I was in the middle of tracking down an arsonist who was probably also a crazy murderer and I was thinking about asking Harry out? Harry and the rest of New York were in danger. I couldn’t afford to be messing around. 

First thing first, I needed to find out where Harry and Norman were staying now that Oscorp was off limits. I remembered Gwen said something about a fancy hotel at the cafe earlier. I sent her a text to see if she knew which one.

_ I’m pretty sure it’s the Langham. What happened in class? I don’t see Harry again until 6th period. _

_ I’ll tell you later. _

When the final bell rang, I sprinted to the front of the school. I already had my costume on underneath my clothes so no need for a bathroom pitstop. Harry was waiting for me just outside the doors. I nearly ran straight past him.

“Woah, where’s the fire, Pete?” Harry said.

I frowned at his choice of phrase.

“Yeah maybe that was bad timing,” Harry admitted. “I still smell like smoke and I showered like three times. So...what do you wanna do?”

Now for the hard part: a believable excuse. “Man, I feel like a jerk, but I completely forgot Aunt May and I have plans today.”

To my surprise, Harry smiled. “Classic Parker. Honestly, I don’t think my dad wants me to go anywhere except right back to the hotel. Between the Vulture and the fire, New York isn’t really the safest place to be an Osborn right now.”

I had reached that same conclusion. I watched as Harry said goodbye and got into the back of the black car that was waiting for him in the street. Why did I have a bad feeling all of the sudden? I shook my head and walked around to the back of the school to take off my street clothes. 

In another five minutes I was standing on a roof across the street from the Langham. It was a pretty big building, which room would they be staying in? I swung up to the top floor, east side of the building. I stared in through the glass. Norman was sitting at a desk on a laptop. First try, wow. How did I know Norman would want the top floor with a perfect view of the Empire State Building? Oh yeah, because he’s Norman Osborn.

I tapped on the glass. Norman, looked up, annoyance etched in every line of his face.

“Should we try the knock knock joke again?” I asked through the glass.

Norman opened the window. “What do you want now? Can’t you see I’m busy sifting through the ashes of my business? How did you even know I was here?”

“I have my sources. And this could’ve been avoided if you let me help you,” I pointed at him. “Instead, I was busy working damage control. How’s your kid, by the way?”

“That is a low blow,” Norman growled. “I would never do anything to put my son’s life in danger.”

“Then give me some useful information. Like what all of this has to do with Ravencroft.” 

My longshot paid off, Norman’s composure melted for a second. “How do you know about that?”

“Look, I’m gonna be honest,” I sat down in a chair. “I’m really just grasping at straws here, but if you could connect the dots for me I might be able to do something.”

Norman sighed. “You’re not going to stop bothering me, are you?”

“Not as long as there are lives at stake.”

“Fine. Tell me what you know.”

I got up and started pacing. “Well the close succession between these two attacks suggest whoever this mysterious sponsor is has a gameplan he’s sticking to. He targeted your security systems the first time, and I’m guessing he stole access codes to your other systems so this second guy could get in and start the fire.”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Norman glared at me.

“I’ll ignore that. Next, I examined the burn patterns at Oscorp.” My pacing carried me up onto the walls. “The evidence seems to point to a particularly vicious criminal named MacDonald Gargan, but according to public record he’s been institutionalized at Ravencroft for the last nine years.”

Norman frowned. “I have reason to believe that Ravencroft is no longer a mental institute, but a front for a terrorist group.”

“I didn’t hear anything about a rebranding,” I looked down at him.

“You wouldn’t have. Years ago a young scientist named Monica Rappaccini approached me about special research I was conducting. She wanted to provide funding in exchange for the use of what I created. I refused. I think she’s come back to take it by force.”

“And what is this mysterious research of yours?”

“All you need to know is that it would be catastrophic if she were to steal it. She isn’t just a scientist, she’s the current leader of A.I.M.”

“Advanced Idea Mechanics?” I jumped down. “Didn’t Captain America run them into the ground?”

Norman folded his arms. “If only a worldwide terrorist organization was that easy to dismantle.”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with Ravencroft?”

“With the recent lack of government funding, Ravencroft was forced to accept a buyout by a shell corporation, the very same one that Rappaccini claimed to work for when we first met.”

“So this lady is crazy enough to give criminals like Gargan their freedom if she thought she could get to you?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to see how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants.”

“Gee, that’s not ominous at all.” I tapped my chin in thought. “If A.I.M. really is after you, you’re not safe here.”

“You don’t think I know that? Why do you think I’m talking to you?”

“Me?” I objected.

“Yes, you’re a superhero, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, for like five months! I’ll protect you as best as I can, but we need the Avengers or something.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don’t happen to have Tony Stark on speed dial, do you?”

Suddenly there was a loud crash from below. Norman and I rushed to the window. Smoke was drifting up from the street, a car crash? I crawled out the window for a better look. A large man in a green metal suit was standing on the hood of a black car...wait, was that Harry’s car?

“Call the police,” I shouted at Norman before I launched myself straight down, aiming directly at the man. At the last second I shot out a web and swung with my legs out. I made solid contact with the villain, kicking him clear across fifth avenue.

Cars screeched to a halt. Some drivers saw me standing in the street and put their cars in reverse. Some abandoned their vehicles all together. Pedestrians either ran the other way or  ducked  into a shop to hide. It only took seconds for the street to empty. New Yorkers were used to the drill by now.

Across the street, the man got up and glared at me. It was definitely the same guy from the fire. How could I tell, you ask? The eight foot tail curling around his feet kind of gave it away. Harry was right, it was tipped with a gnarly looking stinger.

The man laughed and stalked towards me. “Finally I meet the pest that defeated Vulture.”

“Were you looking for an autograph? I don’t have a pen on me, but I’m sure we can figure something out,” I shot several webs at him, trapping his feet to the ground. “How’s that?”

As he tried to pull free, I ran back to the car. The entire front end was crumpled, the frame warped so the doors were stuck. I ripped off the driver’s side door and pulled out the unconscious driver. I carried him to the sidewalk then went back to the car. Harry was in the backseat, shaking his head like he wasn’t sure what had happened. My heart jumped when I saw him. I tore the door off the car and held my hand out to him.

“I thought I told you to stay out of trouble!”

Harry grabbed my hand. “Hey, you only said for the rest of the night.”

I smiled to myself. If Harry could still make jokes he probably wasn’t hurt too badly. I helped him out of the car and pointed to his chauffeur. “Can you get him inside the hotel?”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded and dragged the man to safety.

Now that that was handled, I turned back to the guy with the tail. “Since you’re a friend of Vulture’s, I’m only going to say this once: spiders aren’t bugs, so any insect oriented puns you’ve prepared for this fight aren’t going to work.”

He looked up from his feet with a wild grin on his face. “Spider, huh? Scorpions eat spiders!”

With that horrifying statement, he used his tail to rip through my webs. He ran towards me, but I flipped over his head. I had a second to regret my decision when I saw his tail swinging at my face. He swatted me right out of the air. I went rolling down the street until I slammed into an abandoned car.

“Why can’t I go back to trapping muggers,” I groaned. I got up just in time for every nerve in my body to scream “duck”! I flattened myself against the asphalt as something went  _ splat  _ right above my head. I rolled away from the car, which was now covered in an awful smelling green liquid. As I watched, the substance ate straight through the metal.

“Acid?” I turned back to Scorpion. “That’s so not fair!”

At least I could tell the police what the corrosive component from the fire was. I ducked another hissing projectile. If I survived long enough to tell the tale. Get it? Tail?

I pointed to the pit that was now burned into the street where the last acid ball hit. “Great, like traffic on fifth avenue wasn’t bad enough. You just had to add potholes to the mix.”

I shot a web at his tail and pulled. He stumbled forward as I jumped at him. I punched him in the face then kicked him in the chest, pushing him back again.

“Public services must hate you.”

Scorpion roared in rage and swept his tail at my feet. I jumped...right into his swinging fist. I managed to meet his blow with my open palms so my arms absorbed the impact instead of my face. I let the force carry me to the opposite side of the street.

He sprayed more acid at me. I sidestepped. It splattered against the storefront behind me and started eating away at the glass. I really needed to pin down that tail of his. Fighting up close was going to be near impossible if I had to watch his tail, but fighting from a distance wasn’t a better option either. I didn’t exactly want to play acid dodgeball all afternoon. So how to neutralize the tail?

“Why were you after that kid?” I made my way back towards Scorpion, trying to keep him talking while I figured out a plan.

“The little Osborn runt?” Scorpion laughed. “He was just a means to an end. Norman was too paranoid to keep the formula at Oscorp, so this time we’ll make it easier for all of us. The formula for his son!”

“Kidnapping and extortion?” I webbed up a newspaper stand and sent it flying at Scorpion’s head. “As if your crimes against fashion weren’t heinous enough!”

“Heh, joke all you want, little spider.” He used his tail to knock the stand aside. “You’re face to face with a real predator now.”

With his tail still in its outward swing, I took the chance to close the distance between us. I hit Scorpion right in the eyes with a well placed webshot, then swung off a lamppost to kick him in the chest. Scorpion stumbled back, but even without the suit of metal, he was a big guy. It was going to take more force than that to knock him down. Instead, he just fell to one knee.

He ripped the webs off his face. To my surprise, he started to laugh; not a normal laugh either, more of a slow, creepy giggle. “They said you were dangerous, but this is fun. I like having you as a playmate.”

“Playmate?” I deadpanned. “We’re not five, and we are definitely not playing.”

“You’re not having fun? That’s too bad!” Scorpion laughed again. He dropped down onto all fours, his tail arcing over his back.

I stumbled back just enough so that his tail sank into the street between my feet and not, well, me. It went through the asphalt like it was butter. Yikes. He ripped it right back out and stabbed at me again. I kept backing up and dodging, but everytime he missed he just advanced and tried again, laughing maniacally the whole time. If I didn’t figure something out soon, I was going to be scorpion chow.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a fire hydrant. A plan began to form in my head. I continued narrowly avoiding his attacks, pretending to stumble like I was getting tired. Scorpion sensed weakness and his attacks got faster. 

_ Just a little farther,  _ I thought to myself. Now was my chance. I tripped over my feet trying to duck Scorpion’s tail and fell on my butt, frantically schooching away from him. Scorpion’s face lit up with murderous glee as he sensed his victory. He sent his tail streaking at me one final time.

At the last second I rolled to the side and Scorpion’s tail impaled the fire hydrant. He tore it free and water shot out of the hole directly into his face. Usually fire hydrants have a water pressure of around 60 PSI, but force that water through the slit created by a scorpion stinger and the pressure increases. Scorpion figured that out first hand.

Scorpion went flying backwards, rolling head over tail. He got up, coughing and gasping for breath. He saw me standing over him and tried to punch me again, but I webbed his fist and jumped over his shoulder, forcing Scorpion to punch himself in the face. He fell backwards, right on top of me. I braced my arms and tossed him head first into the street. He crumpled in a big, unconscious pile of arms, legs, and tail.

I stumbled back. “Play-date officially over.”

I turned back to the hotel. I could see Harry staring through the window. I was happy to see him, but I really wished he had picked a safer place to watch the fight. I heard police sirens approaching and looked up. How typical of them to show up  _ after  _ I defeated the bad guy. 

When I looked back at Harry, he was banging on the glass, pointing behind me with wide eyes. At the same time I felt my back tingle with that familiar warning of danger.

I spun around and raised my arms, expecting to block a punch. Something wet splashed against me and suddenly my arms were on fire. I screamed in pain, cursing myself for forgetting about the acid. I swiped at the burning liquid with my hands, but that didn’t do much. I tried to cover my arms with webbing, but my web shooters were corroded by the acid. In my state of panic, I couldn’t think of anything else. I was done for.

“Burn, little spider, burn!” Scorpion yelled and let out manic laughter.

Then the acid ate through the part of my web shooters that housed the webfluid. The second the pressure was released, it exploded, shooting webs everywhere. Scorpion was knocked back and trapped against the far side of the street. I was blown back against the hotel, the webbing thankfully absorbing the acid on my skin. I sank to my knees and examined the damage. My web shooters hung in tatters around my wrists. The sleeves of my suit were completely destroyed. Ugly red burns covered both my forearms. I couldn’t bend my fingers, they were so badly burned and bleeding from trying to rub the acid off.

The door to the hotel was covered in webs, but Harry forced it open just enough to squeeze through. He saw my arms and turned pale. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

I took in several deep breaths. When I managed to speak, my voice sounded hollow. “I’ll be fine.”

“No way, you need a hospital,” Harry insisted. “Those are some serious burns.”

“Eh,” I stood up, carefully holding my arms away from my body. “They’re second degree at worst.”

Several police cars pulled to a stop just outside of the area covered in webbing. The officers got out and I recognized one of them. Harry did too. I started to back up, but Harry grabbed my shoulder so I couldn’t get away.

“Mr. Stacy,” Harry called out to Gwen’s father. “He’s hurt!”

Captain Stacy made his way over to us, nearly losing his shoes several times trying to walk over the webs. “Just what exactly happened here?”

“I’ll tell you everything, just help him,” Harry demanded.

I let Captain Stacy examine my arms. “You’re lucky. These are mostly second degree burns, no nerve damage.”

I gave Harry my best I-told-you-so glare, but with the mask it was hard to tell if it worked. “I’m fine. I just need some cold water and compresses. You need to take care of Scorpion before he gets out of that webbing.”

Captain Stacy called out to his men who were gathered around Scorpion. “Status report!”

“This guy is knocked out cold,” one of his men shouted back. “You got him good, Spider-Man!”

I didn’t point out that it was mostly an accident that defeated Scorpion. “You can’t take any chances, that acid of his is no joke. Not that he is, either. I’m pretty sure that’s Mac Gargan.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Captain Stacy frowned.

“He’s a convicted murderer. He’s supposed to be serving a triple life sentence in Ravencroft but here he is.”

“We’ll be sure to investigate. Anything else to add?”

“He was the one responsible for the fire at Oscorp, I saw him fleeing the scene myself.”

Stacy narrowed his eyes. “I doubt the word of a vigilante will hold up in court.”

“Then don’t take my word. Test his acid against the irregular burn patterns, I’m sure it’ll be enough for a conviction.”

“Thank you, Spider-Man. The commissioner has a warrant out for your arrest, but I’m not going to take you in after everything you’ve done here today. My men aren’t prepared to handle people like Toomes and Gargan. We need a hero looking out for us.” He turned to Harry. “Take him inside the hotel, make sure he treats those burns.”

“Yessir,” Harry placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me towards the door. The only problem was that it was currently webbed shut.

“I’ve got this.” Before Harry could stop me, I grabbed the doors and wrenched them open. The pain in my fingers flared up.

“Are you insane?” Harry slapped his forehead. “You’re in no shape to be tearing doors off their hinges!”

I hissed in pain, cradling my hands against my chest. “You’re probably right.”

Harry led me to some bathrooms. He filled one of the sinks with cool water. I submerged my arms, sighing at the soothing feeling. Harry watched me, leaning against the wall.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, looking back down at my arms.

“You’ve saved me and my father three times now.”

“Technically four,” I said. “I fought the Vulture twice.”

“Okay, four times. A city of eight million people and you’ve saved us  _ four _ times. I’m not too good at math, but even I know those are some crazy odds. How do you always know we need help?”

“Are you complaining?”

“No,” Harry sighed. “I get it, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.”

I felt my stomach twist standing right in front of Harry and lying to his face, but this past week made me more certain than ever that I was making the right decision keeping my identity a secret. With all these new supervillains showing up, my life was getting more and more dangerous. Just look at today; Scorpion had only attacked Harry because he was Norman’s son. If my enemies knew Harry was important to Spider-Man too, he would be even more of a target. Not to mention Aunt May and Gwen and Mary Jane.

I wasn’t going to lose anyone else. Not if I could do anything about it.

My arms no longer hurt as bad and the swelling was going down, so I took my arms from the water. Harry stepped forward. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“I heal quickly...well quicker than normal at least. We still have work to do.”

We left the bathroom in time to see Norman run down the stairs.

“Harry, are you all right?” He ran to his son.

“I’m okay, dad. Spider-Man saved me.”

I turned to Norman. “They were after Harry this time, Norman.”

“What?” He said, his voice tight.

“They were going to use him as a bargaining chip. Whatever you created, they want it bad. You need to go somewhere safe. Harry, too. Send him to a friend's house, somewhere they wouldn’t think to check. Don’t tell anyone where. Scorpion and I were able to track you here so it needs to be completely off the books.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Norman grimaced like it actually pained him to admit it. He looked at Harry. “What about your friend with the police captain father?”

Harry shifted his weight. “Actually I was thinking I could stay with Peter, he lives in Queens so I’ll be out of Manhattan at least.”

I was glad my mask hid the grin that was taking over my face. The thought that I made him feel safe as Peter Parker made a warm feeling spread through my chest.

“Very well.”

“Take a taxi to his house then, your fleet of black town cars aren’t exactly subtle,” I walked back to the entrance. “I’ll work with the police to get to the bottom of this mess.”

I left the hotel, holding up my arms to shoot a web before remembering my web shooters were trashed. My shoulders dropped. “Looks like you’re hoofing it, Spidey.”

On my way out of Manhattan I stopped by a pharmacy. I grabbed several elastic bandages and headed up to the counter, ignoring the shocked faces of the other customers. I went to reach into my bag before realizing I didn’t have it on me. No money meant no bandages.

“Sorry,” I muttered to the cashier. “Forgot my wallet in my other costume.”

I walked out of the store, my head hanging.

“Spider-Man, wait!” A man ran out of the pharmacy, holding the bandages. “You saved my wife from some dirtbag mugger a month ago, it’s the least I can do.”

“I can’t these,” I held up my hands, but that only showcased my burns.

The man grimaced. “You helped my wife, let me help you.”

I wanted to argue more, but I needed those bandages to keep my burns from getting infected.

“I would shake your hand, but...y’know.” I accepted the bandages. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me by keeping up the good work. New York appreciates you.”

I thanked him again. I watched the man as he walked away, unsure how to feel. I wanted to believe that I was doing good, but if I really was a superhero, how come I kept letting Harry get into danger? I never should have left Norman’s office the other day. I should have tried harder to convince him to accept my help.

It was dark out by the time I crawled through my window. My arms still felt raw, but the blisters on my fingers were already starting to shrink. The burns on my forearms were a different story. I slowly changed out of my tattered costume and wrapped my forearms. Then I put on the baggiest sweatshirt I could find. I just sat down on my bed when the doorbell rang. I ran to the top of the stairs. Aunt May had already opened the door.

“Harry, dear, what are you doing here?”

Harry gestured at his suitcase. “Do you, uh, mind if I stay here for a while?”

Aunt May blinked. “Of course, honey, come on in.”

Harry pulled his case inside, then looked up and saw me coming down the stairs. He looked drained. He tried to smile, but only managed half of one.

“Hey, Harry, what’s going on?”

“Me and my father were attacked again.” Harry closed the door behind him. “My father decided I wasn’t safe in the city anymore.”

“Good heavens!” Aunt May pressed her hand to her chest. “Peter, you help Harry get settled in, I’ll make him some cocoa.”

“C’mon upstairs,” I told Harry. “And tell me everything.”

We sat on my bed with our hot chocolates while Harry recounted my whole battle with Scorpion.

“I tried to warn Spider-Man about the acid, but I didn’t help a whole lot.” Harry shuddered. “You should’ve seen the burns, it was horrible. I can’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if he wasn’t there.”

“You’re safe now, Harry.”

“I don’t know,” he looked away. “What if by coming here I’m just putting you and May in danger too?”

“Harry, I told you I’m always gonna have your back. All the scorpions in the world couldn’t change that.”

Harry smiled gratefully. We sipped our drinks in silence for a while.

“Wait,” I frowned. “If you’re here, where’s your father?”

“Captain Stacy took him into protective custody.”

“That’s good.” At least Norman would be easy to reach if Spider-Man needed to ask him any more questions. My phone started to vibrate. Gwen was calling. “Hello?”

“Peter! Have you heard from Harry? There was some kind of attack at his hotel, but my dad won’t tell me anything and Harry’s not answering his phone!”

I looked at Harry, who shrugged. “I lost it when Scorpion attacked. Put her on speaker.”

I did as he asked. “Harry’s fine, he’s going to be staying with me for a while. You can’t tell anyone, though.”

Gwen sighed in relief. “My lips are sealed. I’m skipping the student council meeting and coming over after school tomorrow.”

“You’ll see me at school, Gwen.” Harry said.

“No way,” Gwen and I said at the same time.

“If those people are still after you, Midtown High is the first place they’ll look.”

“Peter’s right,” Gwen said. “You’re under house arrest, Osborn. But Peter can bring you all the assignments you miss if you’re that worried about school.”

“Ugh,” Harry flopped onto his back. “You guys are the worst.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I get really nervous writing relationships between characters, it's never been my strong suit. But that's fine because Peter is awkward too!


	4. A Clandestine Meeting in the Upper West

Soon after that, Harry and I went to bed. He was exhausted, and so was I. But I didn’t fall asleep right away. Mostly because my healing factor was now in full swing and no one will tell you this, but having slightly advanced healing is sometimes painful. The other reason is because Harry and I had decided to share my bed. Neither one of us would let the other sleep on the floor, so we had to compromise. Sure, we’d slept in the same bed before, but only ever at Harry’s penthouse, in his king sized bed. I only had a twin, so it was close quarters. I just laid there next to Harry as motionless as possible feeling my skin slowly knit itself back together.

I wondered how I was going to manage to fix my suit with Harry staying with me. I hadn’t thought about that. And then there was the matter of my web shooters. They were going to need serious repairs which meant money I didn’t have. I could take them to the robotics lab at school; they had tons of materials for student projects, but that was risky. I ultimately decided I didn’t have a choice. I was going to need all my tech if I was going to sort out this mess.

I managed to get a couple hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I silenced it before it could wake Harry up. I checked to make sure he was still asleep before pulling out what remained of my suit and stuffing it into my bag. I was pulling a shirt over my head when Harry started to stir. I quickly put on a jacket to cover up my bandages before he could see them.

“What time is it,” Harry groaned and rolled over.

“Time for me to go to school.” I grabbed my bag. “There’s food downstairs if you get hungry. May will be leaving for work soon, so you’ll have the house to yourself. If you need anything use the landline to call me and  _ do not  _ leave for any reason, got it?”

“Yes, mom.” Harry pulled the blankets back over his head.

I headed downstairs, grabbed an apple, and walked out the door. I triple checked to make sure I locked it behind me. I doubted a locked door would do much to deter A.I.M. if they found out Harry was here, but it made me feel a little better about leaving him alone.

MJ was waiting at the bus stop. She saw me and waved. “How have you been, Peter? You never texted me after Saturday.”

“Sorry, MJ,” I ran a hand through my hair. “It’s been a crazy couple of days.”

“Crazier than Saturday? I doubt it,” she laughed. Then she saw my face and her smile shrank. “Wait, seriously?”

I nodded. ‘You really wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Does it have anything to do with that?” She pointed at my arm.

I looked down to see that my sleeve had ridden up, exposing my bandages. I tugged it back down and looked away. “That’s nothing, really. I’ve gotta catch my train. I’ll see you later, Mary Jane.”

“Peter,” MJ’s voice was tinged with worry. I tried to ignore her and hurried down the street. I glanced back to see that she had taken a couple steps after me, but then her bus pulled up. She bit her lip, but eventually got onto the bus. I’d probably get an angry text from her in a second. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked the rest of the way to the station with my head down. I needed to be more careful. I didn’t want my friends to be worried about me.

Gwen was waiting for me at the cafe. It felt weird to sit there just the two of us. Gwen made me tell her everything that happened with Scorpion. Her dad still refused to talk about it, saying she was better off staying out of it, but she had heard the basics of what happened from the news.

“The police aren’t releasing much to the media,” Gwen told me. “It must be part of an ongoing investigation if they’re trying to keep it quiet. They’ve still got a whole section of fifth avenue closed off.”

Scorpion and I had made a pretty big mess outside the Langham, so that was no surprise. I caught her up on most of the details she was missing.

“I knew Spider-Man was the good guy!”

I frowned. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Well, like I said, the news outlets don’t have much information, so they’ve started drawing their own conclusions. One site in particular has gained a lot of attention.” Gwen loaded up a video on her phone. 

It showed a shaky video of fifth avenue from behind police barricades. The only thing you could see was all the damage my exploding web shooters had caused, the entire street covered in webs so that it looked like a scene from that tarantula movie. Then the video changed, showing an angry, square jawed man with a mustache. 

“This is outrageous!” He pounded his fist on his desk. “A whole block on one of the most important roads in midtown shut down because of that spider freak! When are the police going to do their jobs and apprehend this web slinging maniac? How much more damage will he have to cause before New York finally sees him for the terrorist he is? Not only was Spider-Man responsible for the damage caused yesterday afternoon, but he was also spotted at the Oscorp fire! Who knows what his motives are? I for one say that Spider-Man is a menace to our society!”

“Unbelievable,” I scoffed. “Who does that guy think he is?”

“J. Jonah Jameson, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle,” Gwen said, taking her phone back. “He’s basically declared a one man war against Spider-Man.”

“Well he can take his flat top and his attitude somewhere else,” I folded my arms. “No way people are gonna believe that stuff.”

Gwen shrugged. “I don’t know, Peter. People are on edge with everything that’s going on. The police being tight lipped isn’t helping the situation either. Attitude or not, Jameson has a lot of pull in the community.”

I remembered the man who bought my bandages last night. Spider-Man  _ was  _ making a difference. I was inspiring strangers to do good deeds, I rescued Norman from the Vulture, I saved Harry multiple times; that alone made everything worth it. Jameson could say whatever he wanted, no matter how annoying he was. Spider-Man had an undeniable place in New York.

“How’s Harry?” Gwen asked. “This must be so hard on him.”

“Harry’s tough,” I said. “I just hope it doesn’t get any worse.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes. “And did you guys get the chance to talk about...y’know?”

“No,” I sighed. “I have a lot to think about.”

“Well don’t take too long,” Gwen began. “Harry’s rich and MJ is super hot, they’re not going to stay single forever.”

“Please stop talking.”

I convinced Gwen that we should go to school early so that I could visit all of Harry’s teachers and get his homework. Then I used the remaining time before class to put some work into fixing my web shooters. The only other person in the robotics lab was Laurie Lynton, but she was focused on her own project. I sorted through the spare materials and found some usable parts. I repaired the shooters well enough to get them functional, but I wasn’t sure if they were as durable as before. The first bell rang. I sighed and slipped the web shooters onto my wrists. Good enough would have to do for now.

As the day went on, I thought about my fight with Scorpion. If it weren’t for my web shooters exploding, I would’ve lost. Despite how messy it was, I figured if I could find a way to safely recreate that explosion without destroying my web shooters, it would come in handy in the future. Like some sort of web grenade. Too bad I didn’t have the money to put into an idea like that. I wondered if Tony Stark knew how lucky he was to be filthy rich.

Gwen met me outside the building after school and we took the train back to Queens together. I wished she wasn’t so adamant about visiting Harry. I wanted to be in Manhattan, tracking down A.I.M., but I couldn’t do that if Gwen was in over protective mom friend mode. I could try to sneak away after she left, but how would I explain that to Harry? Being a good friend was really putting a hold on all of my superheroing. 

“Look, it’s MJ,” Gwen said, pulling me out of my reverie.

Sure enough, MJ was practicing her overhand serve against the side of her house. She turned around when Gwen called out a greeting. She dropped the volleyball and started marching towards us, looking annoyed. She was going to ask about my bandages again. I couldn’t let her do that in front of Gwen.

“Here, Gwen,” I tossed her my keys. “Why don’t you go in and check on Harry. I’m sure he’s probably died of boredom by now. I’ll be there in a second.”

Gwen gave me a conspiratorial wink and grin. “Whatever you say, Peter. Good luck.”

Gwen ran inside. Good, that was one catastrophe avoided. On to the next.

MJ stopped in front of me with her hands planted on her hips. I tried to speak, but she held up her hand to silence me. “Whatever half baked lie you’re about to tell me, forget it. I want the truth, Parker.

“Honestly, MJ, it isn’t anything bad. I was boiling some water for dinner last night and accidentally knocked the pot over. I was too embarrassed to say anything and I definitely don’t want Gwen finding out or she’d never stop making fun of me.”

MJ just stared at me. “Look, Peter, my father...Let’s just say I know a cover up when I hear it. I’ve had to make my own before, too. You don’t want to tell me whatever trouble you’re in? Fine. Just promise me you’ll talk to someone when you get in over your head.”

I didn’t know what to say. “I...I promise.”

MJ sighed and pressed her lips together. I could tell she didn’t want to give up.

“I can handle this, MJ, trust me. I’m glad we’re friends and I’m sorry I made you worry.”

Her face softened for a moment. “I’m glad we’re friends too, Peter. And I get that there’s some things you have to do on your own, but I’m still going to worry for you.”

With that she turned around. She picked up her ball and disappeared into her house. I let out a breath. That didn’t go too horribly. At worst MJ probably thought I was in deep with some street gang. I could live with that. I went back inside, locking the door behind me. Harry and Gwen were sitting on the couch.

“How’d it go with MJ?” Gwen asked as I sat down on the recliner.

“Oh, she was just checking up on me after all the craziness happening in the city.” I grabbed a folder from my bag and dropped it onto the coffee table. “Here’s all your homework for the week, Harry.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Harry and Gwen had picked out a movie to watch, but I couldn’t focus on it at all. My thoughts just kept racing. I needed to touch base with Gwen’s dad to see if he could make heads or tails of the situation, I needed to know what in the world Norman could’ve created that made him A.I.M.’s golden goose, I needed to fix my suit and change my bandages and put new web fluid cartridges in my web shooters. By the end of the movie, my brain was close to overloading.

Gwen left right before Aunt May got home. May cooked dinner and then Harry and I went back up to my room. I was sitting at my desk while Harry flipped through his schoolwork on my bed. I tapped out a rhythmless tune with my fingers until Harry sighed.

“You aren’t being as talkative as usual,” he narrowed his eyes. “It’s weirding me out.”

I shrugged.

“Did something happen with Mary Jane?”

I sat up in my chair so fast I almost fell. “What? Nothing happened with MJ.”

Harry just looked at me.

“Gwen ratted me out, didn’t she?”

It was Harry’s turn to shrug. “She said MJ looked pretty upset.”

“Ugh,” I pushed my wrists against my temples. “She’s just worried about me. I’ve been a little distracted lately, I guess.”

“No, I never would have noticed,” Harry deadpanned.

“It’s just everything from the last couple days stacking up. I’m worried about you, MJ’s worried about me, why does everyone have to  _ worry  _ so much?”

Harry laughed, the sound of it startling me. “Only you would worry about worrying too much. Besides, what are you worried about me for?”

“Are you joking?” I stood up and started pacing. “I couldn’t focus at school. I just kept thinking about Scorpion being after you!”

“Okay,” Harry regarded me with amusement. “You’ve gotta sit down, Pete.”

I reluctantly sat next to him on the bed.

“You said you’ve got my back, right?” Harry smiled when I nodded. “Then _ I’m  _ not worried.”

“That’s a whole lot of trust you’re putting in me,” I mumbled. “You know my Parker Luck. Things rarely work out around me.”

“Maybe my Osborn Luck will rub off on you,” Harry mused.

“Osborn Luck? That’s not a thing.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve been saved by Spider-Man this last week? Four times!”

I frowned. “Four?”

“He fought Vulture twice,” Harry waved his hand. “The point is, Osborn Luck is totally a thing. Plus, I get to stay here with you, that’s lucky enough right there.”

“Yeah my two bedroom house is a serious upgrade from your penthouse.”

“Penthouses are cool, but kind of lonely after a while. Staying with you and May has actually done wonders for my nerves.”

I stared at Harry. He was genuinely calm. Perfectly content to be lying on my bed while a worldwide terrorist organization may or may not be hunting him down at this very second. And here I was losing my cool in front of him. I needed to put an end to this soon before  _ my _ nerves were shot.

Harry started to get ready for bed. I grabbed my bag and went to the bathroom. I took off my jacket and carefully unwrapped my arms, preparing to see horrible scars on my arms. The last of the bandages fell away. There were still a few spots that were a dull, brownish red, but mostly the burns were gone. Only faint white splashes of scar tissue along my forearms remained. By tomorrow night I would be able to wear short sleeves again. Just to be sure there was no lingering risk of infection, I opened the second bandage and rewrapped my arms. I tossed the old one. It was stained with all sorts of nasty things. I shuffled the trash around so it was hidden at the bottom, then grabbed my Spider-Man costume from my bag.

I had decided to sneak out once Harry had fallen asleep. I put it on underneath my clothes, frowning at the torn sleeves that allowed my bandages to poke through. Once I was sure both the bandages and costume weren’t visible, I went back to my room and got into bed.

“Night, Pete.”

“Night, Harry. And thanks for calming me down.”

“Anytime,” Harry yawned and rolled over.

Soon Harry’s breathing became slow and shallow. I waited a little longer just to be safe, then used all of my skill to get out of bed as quietly as possible. I grabbed my bag, slipped on my web shooters, and climbed out the window. As soon as I closed the window behind me, I let out my breath. Now to find Captain Stacy.

… 

A couple hours later, I was sitting on a street lamp across the street from Gwen’s apartment building, just appreciating my surroundings for a moment. I didn’t get up to this neighborhood very often. The Upper West Side was unlike any other part of Manhattan. Trees and bushes lined the sidewalks, ivy clung to walls, and plants sprouted on every balcony and window sill. Some apartments were almost entirely obscured by greenery, like nature was slowly reclaiming this part of the city.

I brought my focus back to the task at hand. How was I going to get to Captain Stacy? I didn’t know which window was his, or even if he was home yet. I was debating on whether or not I should swing the two blocks to the twenty-fourth precinct when I saw movement down the street. It was Captain Stacy! He was still in his uniform and clearly tired from his day at work.

He walked up the steps to the building. Just as he put his hand on the door, I jumped and landed on the stone right above the door.

“Evening, officer.” I saluted him.

Stacy’s hand jumped from the door handle to his gun. When he realized who I was he relaxed. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on a police captain like that.”

“Sorry, subtly isn’t really my thing.” I shifted so that my back was against the building.

Captain Stacy looked at my bandaged arms. “I see you haven’t had the time to fix your costume. How are you healing?”

“Quickly. And lay off the threads, I’m a little light in the pockets right now. Vigilantism isn’t exactly a high paying first job.”

“God help me,” Captain Stacy pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re just a kid, aren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that I have the power to hold my own against Vulture, Scorpion, and whatever else A.I.M. has to throw at me. I have a responsibility to protect this city.”

Captain Stacy stared at me.

“I practiced that in the mirror this morning.”

“I’m going to regret this,” Stacy sucked in a breath, “but you do stand a better chance than my men. And you were right about Scorpion’s identity. How did you know A.I.M. is involved?”

“Norman Osborn and I were talking before we had a case of  _ scorpius interruptus. _ Hopefully he told you everything he told me.”

“He was very forthcoming about almost everything,” Captain Stacy admitted.

“He didn’t tell you what A.I.M. is after either, huh?” I leaned my head against the wall. “All I managed to get out of Scorpion was that it’s some kind of formula.”

“Osborn is a businessman through and through,” Captain Stacy grunted. “What bothers me is that even after his son was put into the line of fire he still wasn’t willing to share. Whatever that formula is, it must be extremely dangerous.”

“Or profitable. Which means A.I.M. isn’t going to give up easily. We have to go on the offensive, we can’t just sit here and wait for them to throw another animal themed supervillain at us.”

Captain Stacy sat down on the steps. “I agree. Unfortunately that requires warrants and the commissioner’s approval. It could take weeks to organize a task force.”

“So maybe,” I dropped down onto the railing, “it’s time you tried things my way.”

“Work outside the law?” Captain Stacy glared at me. I tried not to laugh. That was the same exact look Gwen gave me whenever I did something stupid. “I don’t think so, Spider-Man. I’ve got a family to take care of, I can’t jeopardize my job.”

I sighed. “Too bad, working with a grizzled police captain good cop/funny cop style would’ve been fun.”

“Funny? Is that what you think you are?”

I clutched my chest. “Captain Stacy, you’re breaking my little spider heart!”

He chuckled. “Yeah, definitely no team up, but if I happened to give you information that enabled you to act in a productive manner…”

I leaned forward with my chin in my palms. “I’m listening.”

“Osborn said he was approached by Monica Rappaccini, the last known Scientist Supreme of A.I.M. She managed the Targo Corporation, the shell company that bought out Ravencroft, but I reached out to every informant I have. By all accounts she hasn’t been heard from in months.”

“Do you think there’s been a change in leadership?” 

Captain Stacy shook his head. “I don’t know. Honestly, kid, even I’m out of my depth here. If it was up to me, I’d send this over to the Avengers.”

“Well since no one seems to have Tony Stark’s number, you’re gonna have to settle for me. You don’t have to give me a direct line to Rappaccini, just give me somewhere to start and I’ll figure it out on my own.”

“I can’t believe I’m letting a teenager do this.”

“Didn’t we discuss this already,” I remarked. “Great power, great responsibility, all that jazz.”

“If I was able to make a move, I’d say there’s no point in beating around the bush. We know Ravencroft is involved, so Ravencroft is your best chance to find some answers.”

“Right. All the way up in Hunts Point,” I grumbled. My arms ached when I thought about web slinging all the way to the Bronx.

“You’re on your own from here on out, Spider-Man.” Captain Stacy stood. “If you get caught trespassing I won’t be able to help you.”

“If I get caught I think misdemeanors will be the least of my worries,” I joked.

Captain Stacy glared at me again.

“Okay, okay,” I relented. “I promise I’ll be careful. Do you think Norman Osborn will be safe in the meantime?”

“I can’t say anything for sure. We’ve got him under our protection, but the NYPD isn’t prepared to handle a full scale attack if A.I.M. finds him. But we’ll do our best and you’ll do the same, I hope. Good luck, Spider-Man.”

“Thanks, for everything.”

He nodded, then turned and went inside his building.

I took a deep breath and started heading back home, praying that Harry hadn’t woken up to find me gone. I managed to catch the Long Island Railroad on one of its late night runs, but it was nearly three in the morning before I finally crawled back through my window.

Harry was still snoring away, so I stripped out of my costume and put it back into my bag. I examined my web shooters. They seemed to be holding up just fine for now. I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. I dropped the devices into my bag and climbed back into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't look at me like that, guys. I know this chapter is super short, but the last one was massive so I'm just balancing it out. Also, I do realize that I wrote the classic "Only One Bed" fanfic scenario, and yes I hate myself for it. Next chapter is probably going to be the end of this arc, but don't worry I have so many wonderful plans for Peter! Some classic villains are going to appear, as well as some of the lesser known ones. I'm definitely taking some liberties with the origins of said characters, but goddamn if I didn't feel like an evil genius writing some of this shit. But that's enough from me for now, I'll leave you guys with that ominous statement. See y'all Friday!


	5. I Visited Ravencroft and All I Got was Blunt Force Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is closer than ever to getting the answers he's been searching for, but does he have what it takes to get to the bottom of this mystery? And will he be prepared to deal with the aftermath?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right fellas, this is it: the end of the first story arc. It's been fun, it's been crazy, it's been the longest piece of writing I've ever uploaded to this site, but above all it's been super worth the trouble! Enjoy this one, lads, I know I did.

I was going to be in so much trouble.

I sat in a train, but not the one to school. There was no other option but ditching. I couldn’t spend another day sitting in class while A.I.M. continued to plot against the Osborns, even if that meant getting grounded for the rest of my life. Depending on how today went, that might be a shorter timeline than I expected.

I was passing through Harlem at the moment. Just a little longer until I reached my destination. While I waited I researched Ravencroft’s history. Hunts Point didn’t exactly have a good track record when it came to correctional facilities and Ravencroft was no exception. There had been several scandals revolving around the mistreatment of patients even before a terrorist organization secretly started running it. I hated to think what changes had been made now that they were under new management. It sat right on the East River with a perfect view of Rikers Island, probably an inspiring sight for the criminally insane that stayed there.

I got off the six train at Hunts Point Avenue and walked the rest of the way, stopping in Barretto Point Park to change into my costume and stash my bag. I turned my phone off and left it in my backpack. Didn’t want any spam calls to give me away. I had taken the bandages off, but it looked weird to see my bare arms in the damaged suit, so I was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt under my costume. Not the classiest fix, but it would have to do.

I approached Ravencroft cautiously, unsure of what to expect. The building seemed normal enough, just a three story brownstone surrounded by a chain link fence. That was no problem at all, but as I stepped up to the fence, that warning tingle made me stop. I really needed to figure out a better name for that feeling than  _ tingle _ . It had come in handy a whole lot lately, like my very own sixth sense. A Spider-Sense, if you will. 

Whatever I decided to call it, it was going off. I looked around for danger, but I couldn’t see anything. Then I noticed cameras on the side of the building. If I jumped that fence I’d be spotted immediately. If I wanted to keep the element of surprise, I’d have to find another way in.

I made a circle around the fence, but I didn’t see a good way in. The building itself was too far away from the fence. Any direction I approached it, I'd have to run across open ground to get inside. I was about to ditch the stealth part of my stealth mission when I saw a van coming down the road. It was completely white, no labels or insignias or even signs proclaiming free candy. What are the odds that they were heading in the same direction I was?

I climbed up a tree near the road and jumped down onto the van as it passed. I crawled down the back and under the vehicle. I got a facefull of exhaust and coughed.

“Ugh, diesel,” I choked out and crawled away from the exhaust pipe. It was more roomy than I thought the undercarriage of a creepy white van would be. I wondered what it was transporting. “Here’s to hoping it’s just the laundry service.”

The van passed through the gate and up to a loading dock at the back of the building. I pressed myself closer to the van as it pulled to a stop. A bay door opened and I saw the feet of guards. The van pulled in and the door closed behind it. For better or worse, I had made it inside. Unfortunately step one was as far as my plan went. I wasn’t too good at making plans and things rarely worked out when I did, so I was letting Lady Luck take the wheel of this operation. Maybe she’d even cut me a break just this once.

The driver of the van got out and walked to the back. When he opened the door, I nearly fell off the van in surprise.

“If you think I’m going to cooperate with you then A.I.M really has lost its edge.” It was Norman’s voice! I’d recognize the annoyed disappointment in his tone anywhere. So much for Captain Stacy’s police protection.

“You’ll change your mind about that soon enough, Osborn.” The driver pulled Osborn from the van and pushed him towards a door at the back of the room. The guards didn’t move to follow them. That seemed like a risky move, letting one guy take Norman, but hopefully that would make my job easier. Now that I knew Norman was here, this was no longer a stealth mission. Now I was a rescue party of one. With everyone’s eyes hopefully on the prize goose, I slipped out from underneath the van. Everyone’s backs were turned so I crouched and jumped up to the ceiling. I learned very early on in my career that no one ever looks up.

I didn’t operate as Spider-Man inside a lot though. Moving around and remaining unseen was going to be difficult. I watched as Norman was taken through a door. Right above the door was a vent. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as I thought. I broke the cover off the vent easily. I would never be jealous of Harry being several inches taller than me again. If I was any bigger I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into the vent. I crawled forward, trying not to sneeze. I could just barely hear the sound of footsteps from the hall. 

“What do you hope to accomplish with this scheme, Dr. Whelan?” Norman sneered. “Hoping to prove your worth to Monica before she tosses you back into whatever hole you crawled out of?”

“You have no idea what’s going on here, Norman,” the man responded. “But you’ll see Monica soon enough.” 

The man, Dr. Whelan, shoved Norman into a room on the right side of the hallway. I turned to follow. I stopped right above a ceiling vent that looked down over the room. The far wall was lined with prison cells. All but one was empty. I could barely make out a hunched figure in the shadows. Dr. Whelan opened the cell right next to the other prisoner’s.

“Come on, Osborn,” Dr. Whelan leered. “Don’t make me force you.”

That was some tough talk from the doctor. He wasn’t even armed and Norman was a whole foot taller than him. Norman could’ve taken him easily, but for some reason, he just furrowed his brow and stepped inside the cage.

Dr. Whelan grinned and locked the door, putting the key back into his pocket. “That’s a good boy. I’ll go inform my mistress of your arrival.”

As soon as he left, I jumped down out of the vent. “You faced down the Vulture, but couldn’t take that guy? What’s up with that, Norm?”

“Spider-Man!” Norman grabbed the bars of his cell. “Get me out of here before that vermin comes back!”

“Norman Osborn?” The figure in the next cell shifted. “Just when I thought this couldn’t get worse, I have to share a cell with you?”

“Monica?” Norman gasped.

I held up a finger. “Hang on a second. Did you say Monica? As in the crazy lady who’s supposed to be running this joint?”

“Don’t patronize me,” she growled, emerging from the shadows. Her black hair was stringy and her clothes were dirty and torn. She must have been in here for a while, which would explain why none of Captain Stacy’s informants had heard from her. “I am well aware of how far I’ve fallen. I don’t need a costumed freak teasing me.”

“What are you doing here?” Norman demanded.

“One of our old projects has come back to haunt us, it seems.” She leaned against the wall of her cell and glared at Norman.

“Okay let’s back up again,” I pointed at Norman. “She just said  _ our.  _ As in, you worked for her. Didn’t you tell me you turned down her funding?”

Monica gave a dry laugh. “What lies have you been feeding this idiot?”

“I never worked for Monica,” Norman barked. He paused for a second before continuing. “I worked  _ with  _ her. I don’t work  _ for  _ anyone.”

I smacked my palm against my forehead. “You see how those are exactly the same thing, right? What is this old project she’s talking about? No more lies and half truths, Osborn. Come clean or I’m going to walk right back out of here without you.”

Norman huffed. “Yes, I lied. Monica and I were partners. This was before I founded Oscorp and before she held any kind of authority within A.I.M. She wanted to prove herself, I wanted to restore the Osborn name that my father destroyed. We collaborated on a project called the Wakers.”

“Genetically altered supersoldiers designed to be immune to any poison or toxin and completely reliant on orders,” Monica sighed wistfully. “Damn thing nearly worked too.”

“We were both aware of the risks,” Norman looked down his nose at Monica. “Don’t you try to blame it all on me.”

“Oh, right. Because the great Norman Osborn can do no wrong!”

“At least I wasn’t as weak willed as you! Wanting to stop as soon as you had personal stake in the matter!”

“Guys!” I interrupted. “Can we please stop acting like children and get on with the story?”

Norman and Monica stopped bickering, but continued to glare daggers at each other. I rubbed my temples. “I can’t believe you guys are forcing me to be the mature one here. Osborn, keep going.”

“There’s not much more to say. The Wakers failed. Nearly all of them died within the first phase of treatment. Those who didn’t were unusable for...other reasons. I left Monica before A.I.M. knew who I was and started Oscorp to continue my research on my own.”

“When will people stop trying to recreate the supersoldier serum? Didn't you guys see what happened to Banner? Those experiments tend to turn one angry and green.”

“Can we continue this conversation somewhere else?” Monica paced in her cell. “I really don’t want to be here when she comes back.”

“Are we really playing the pronoun game here? Who is  _ she?”  _ I heard the sound of a door opening behind me and sighed. “She’s right behind me, isn’t she?”

Norman and Monica nodded. I turned around. Standing in the doorway in front of Dr. Whelan was a teenage girl, maybe a year or two older than me. Her hair was long and black. Her nose and mouth were hidden by a black mask that connected to her shirt. The most interesting part about her was her left hand. Her fingers tapered into pointed green claws.

“Before we get started,” I held my hands up peacefully, “I just want to say I can’t believe I walked into a cliche like that. I know I’m better than this.”

The girl took a deep breath and looked back at Dr. Whelan. “You didn’t tell me Spider-Man was here.”

Dr. Whelan cringed. “I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Miss Black.”

“Whatever,” she waved him back with her left hand, causing the doctor to flinch away from her claws. “I’m actually glad you’re here.”

I glanced behind me, then back at her. “Wait, are you talking to me? I’ve definitely never gotten that reaction before.”

“You single handedly defeated Toomes and Gargan,” she planted her hands on her hips, “and that kind of interference doesn’t go unnoticed.”

“So you’re the one sending all of those villains after me!”

“Not after you,” she pointed at Norman. “After him. Remember me, Normie?”

“Thasanee Rappaccini?” Norman’s jaw hung open.

“Normie?” I said with a similar reaction.

Her face twisted in rage. “My name is Carmilla Black! The name my mother gave me means nothing to me!”

“Mother?” I looked back at Monica. She had backed up as far as she could in her cell, looking deeply ashamed. But now that I was looking, they did have the same dark hair and eyes. “When is someone going to say something that doesn’t raise more questions than it answers?”

“I’m afraid you won’t be getting answers anytime soon, Spider-Man. Dr. Whelan? Sic him.”

“Girl, you said it yourself, I took down Vulture and Scorpion. What’s this guy gonna do to me?”

“Rip you limb from limb!” Dr. Whelan stepped forward. That’s when things went from weird to  _ weird. _ Dr. Whelan started to change, growing fur, claws, and a narrow snout until he ripped through his shirt. Once his transformation ended, he looked like he’d been bitten by a radioactive sewer rat.

“I just had to say something.” I tried to jump out of the way as the creature charged me, but he lashed out with his claws, grabbing me by the neck and smashing me against the wall.

Carmilla walked past us like nothing was wrong. She stopped in front of Norman’s cell. “I know you continued your research after you left A.I.M. I want it.”

Norman laughed. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to have it on me?”

“Don’t play games with me, Norman. I know you better than you think. You look down on everyone you meet, it’s why it was so easy to find people like Toomes to send after you. There’s a whole line of people waiting to get revenge on you for treating them like the dirt you walk on. You would never trust someone with that precious formula of yours, that’s why we couldn’t find it at Oscorp. The only person that’s worthy of it is you, right?” Carmilla held out her hand.

She was right, wasn’t she? That’s exactly what I’d expect from Norman’s ego. Sure enough, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial filled with bright green liquid. I struggled to pry Dr. Whelan’s claws from my neck, but he only clenched them tighter. Black dots started to spread across my sight. I needed to do something, and fast. I planted my feet against the wall and kicked with all my strength. Dr. Whelan and I tumbled over each other, landing in a heap on the far side of the room. I stumbled to my feet, coughing the second my lungs got enough air.

My little stunt had distracted Carmilla. She stared at me, her hand hovering in the air inches away from Norman’s formula. I shot a web at the vial and tugged, wrenching it out of his hands. Once I caught it I jumped onto the wall above the door.

“This is what everyone is so worked up about?” I inspected the vial with a tilt of my head. “Are you sure it’s not just Mountain Dew? Because it looks like Mountain Dew.”

“Spider-Man,” Carmilla growled. “You are seriously annoying.”

“And you seriously need a manicure,” I pointed at her clawed hand. “You really shouldn’t let it fester like that.”

She jumped at me, getting far more air than I expected her to. Her claws sank into the wall right beneath my feet. I leapt over her, landing on Dr. Whelan and knocking him back to the ground just as he was standing up. I reached into his pocket and grabbed the keys. I tossed them to Norman and turned back to face Carmilla and the doctor. “Now I know why Osborn called you Vermin.

Vermin growled, but Carmilla was looking at me thoughtfully. “We don’t need to fight, y’know.”

“We don’t?” I rubbed my neck. “You should’ve said that before you told your pet rat to attack me.”

Carmilla laughed. “You are annoying, but you’ve proven yourself capable. You should work with me, not against me.”

“That Jameson guy has been spreading a lot of false information,” I shook my head. “I’m actually a hero. I’m not about to join a terrorist group.”

Carmilla snapped her fingers and Vermin crawled behind her, pausing only to snarl at me. “I have big plans for A.I.M. now that I’m in charge. It’s not going to be the same organization my mother ran.”

“Are you trying to convince me you’re not the bad guy here? Did you forget the part where you sent Toomes and Gargan after Osborn? A lot of people could’ve been hurt!”

“That was never my intention,” Carmilla insisted. “Toomes’ life was destroyed by Norman, I only wanted to help him get back on his feet. Same with Dr. Whelan. My mother abused his genius and turned him into a monster.”

“And Gargan? What excuse do you have for letting that maniac loose in Manhattan?”

“Gargan was one of my mother’s experiments. I found him forgotten in a cell here at Ravencroft. I shouldn’t have sent him out, he was too unstable, but I was desperate for Norman’s formula. It’s the only thing that can cure me.” She looked down at her clawed hand. There was a lot of emotion on her face. Vermin whimpered and laid down at her feet.

“Cure you?”

“Norman and my mother experimented on me. I was one of the Wakers that survived,” she said, her voice full of bitterness.

I glanced from Norman to Carmilla. This was way getting way too complicated. Norman still hadn’t unlocked his cell. He must have figured it was the safest place for him at the moment. I looked down at the vial in my hand and sighed. “Even if that’s true, I can’t just hand this over. No matter what your intentions were, you put people in danger.”

“You’re going to protect Norman? He’s the enemy here! He takes what he wants from everyone and leaves them to die! He even lied to you. He doesn’t deserve your loyalty!”

“I agree.” I looked back at Norman. He was glaring at me. He might be the worst person ever, but he was still Harry’s father. I turned back to Carmilla. “But he doesn’t deserve your revenge, either. I can’t let you hurt anybody else.”

Carmilla clenched her claws. “I won’t let you get in my way.”

Vermin bared his teeth and flung himself at me. I shot a web at a nearby chair and threw it at him, knocking him out of the air. Carmilla slashed at me with her claws. I backed up, but she was just as relentless as Scorpion. She kept swiping at me, her claws snagged the shoulder of my costume, narrowly missing my skin. I did  _ not  _ want to find out what those claws were capable of. I ducked her attack again and her claws ripped through the bars of Monica’s cell.

“You’re like a mini Scorpion with those claws!” I flipped over Carmilla’s head, webbing her to the bars.

My Spider-Sense blared like crazy as Vermin leapt at me. I tried to maneuver myself midair, but I wasn’t fast enough. Vermin tackled me to the ground. I held the formula away from him as he tried to snatch it with his gross rat hands. He snapped at me with his teeth, but I held back his jaw with one arm.

“I could really use animal control right about now,” I groaned.

Monica took her chance and ran from her cell and out the door. I watched her go, feeling like this wasn’t the last I would see of her.

Carmilla ripped my webs to shreds, drawing my attention back to the fight. There was no way I could handle both of them in this small space. I needed to find somewhere I could move easier. That was easier said than done with Vermin still trying to bite my face off. “Man you really need a mint. And a visit to the dentist while you’re at it. You’ve got one nasty overbite.”

I kicked his feet out from under him, then webbed him up and spun him around. With a grunt of effort, I flung him at Carmilla. She raised her hands instinctively as three hundred pounds of rodent came crashing down on her. Now was my chance. If I could make it back where I first came in, I’d be able to fight better. I turned to run, but Carmilla let out a wail that stopped me in my tracks.

She had managed to crawl out from under Vermin, but something was wrong. He was lying on the ground, his limbs twitching violently. I looked closer and saw the cause. There were three nasty gashes in his side. Carmilla must have accidentally clawed him when I threw Vermin at her. My stomach sank, I hadn’t meant for that to happen.

“I did it again,” she muttered, holding her hand right above Vermin like she wanted to touch him but was too afraid. Her eyes had a shellshocked glaze to them. “It keeps happening.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was having some sort of panic attack.

“Carmilla?” I slowly approached her. “We really need to help Ver-uh, Dr. Whelan. What’s on your claws? Is it some kind of poison?”

She didn’t seem to hear me. She cradled her head in her hands, her claws getting tangled in her hair. “Greg, I’m so sorry.”

“Greg?” I narrowed my eyes. “Who’s Greg?”

Carmilla heard me say his name and her eyes hardened. She looked up at Norman. “This is all your fault! You made me like this! You turned me into a murderer!”

Norman just looked down his nose at her.

Murder? What was she talking about? “We can still save him, Carmilla. There has to be a way to help him.”

Carmilla looked up at the vial in my hand. “There’s only one thing that could save him.”

I held up the formula, then looked at Vermin. His struggles were growing weaker. I uncorked the vial.

Norman grabbed the bars. “No! You can’t! That’s the only sample I have!”

I ignored Norman and crouched down near Vermin’s head. I tilted his jaw open and tipped half of the liquid into his mouth. The effects were immediate. His strength was renewed. He writhed around, striking my arm. The remaining formula was knocked out of my hand. It landed at the foot of Norman’s cell, sending up faint green fumes as it came into contact with the ground. Norman fell to his knees, his hands out to salvage it, but it was no use.

“You fool!” He balled his fingers into a fist. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

I watched as Vermin’s wounds healed themselves. “Yeah, I just saved a man’s life.”

Carmilla stared in wonder as Dr. Whelan finally began to lie still. “You saved him.”

“It was my fault to begin with.” I hung my head. “I wasn’t thinking when I threw him at you. I’m sorry.”

“He was the only one who looked out for me after everything.” Carmilla placed her right hand on his chest.

“Do you mean after what happened to Greg?”

Carmilla nodded miserably. “He was my boyfriend. We were at prom when my abilities were triggered. I killed him.”

“It was an accident, you can’t blame yourself.” I sighed as Carmilla looked away. I knew exactly what she was going through. “Listen, I’ve never told anyone this, but when I first got my powers, I abused them. I used them for personal gain and because of that someone very close to me died. I had the power to stop it from happening, but I failed.”

I placed a hand on Carmilla’s shoulder. “I understand more than anyone what you’re going through. The urge to take revenge is hard to ignore, but you can’t let your grief control you. Greg wouldn’t want you to be consumed by revenge, would he?”

Carmilla shook her head. “You were right before, Spider-Man. I’ve hurt a lot of innocent people. I don’t want to hurt anyone else. I-I’ll turn myself in.”

I bit my lip. I could have easily ended up like Carmilla. I almost did, but I had Uncle Ben’s memory to keep me from taking revenge on his killer. Carmilla was all alone. “You don’t have to.”

“What?” Carmilla gasped. “After everything I’ve done...you would let me go?”

I stood up. “I can’t believe it either. You have done bad things, but you aren’t a bad person. You’ve just had some bad luck. You need someone to have your back. Someone to give you a chance to be better.”

“Are you kidding me?” Norman snapped.

Carmilla and I turned around. Norman was sitting in front of his Mountain Dew puddle, his whole body shaking in anger.

“This stupid girl destroys my building, funds my enemies, attacks my son,” Norman stood, “and you are going to let her walk out of here?”

“Like you have room to talk,” I accused. “You lied to me when I was the only one trying to help you. I mean, you worked for a terrorist group for crying out loud! You should be glad I’m not going to turn you over to the police either. I think we all just need to take a step back and think about what we’ve learned here today.”

“Don’t you act like you’re a saint,” Norman sneered. “If you hadn’t gotten involved my formula wouldn’t be destroyed!”

Carmilla stepped in front of me. “Norman, stop. Can’t you see he’s right? You’ve hurt enough people, and so have I. It’s time to let go of the past and embrace the future...whatever it holds.”

“Well said. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I asked Carmilla.

“No, but that’s fine.” She sighed. “I’m going to stay here and make sure Whelan recovers. After that...well, A.I.M. still has some resources. Maybe Dr. Whelan and I can find a cure ourselves.”

“Good luck with that.” I walked over to Norman’s cell, careful not to step on the broken vial. I placed my hands on the bars and bent them, creating a space large enough for Norman to fit through.

He stepped out, his face still twisted in anger. “If you ever come near me or my son again, I’ll destroy you.”

“I’ve never heard someone say thank you like that,” I smiled. “It’s been a pleasure as always, Norm. I’ll let you find your own way back to the city.”

Osborn stormed out of the room. I waited until he had a good head start before heading to the door myself.

I waved goodbye to Carmilla. “If you ever need anything, let me know. Remember, you’re not in this alone.”

Carmilla nodded. “Thank you for believing in me, Spider-Man.”

I walked out into the hallway and back the way I came. The guards weren’t in the loading dock anymore, so I shot a web at the button to open the bay door. I swung out and headed back to the park to get my bag. I turned my phone back on and winced as a ton of missed calls from Gwen popped up on the screen.

This had been one of the craziest days of my life and it still wasn’t over. I was pleasantly surprised by the way things turned out. I truly believed Carmilla could change her ways and turn A.I.M. around, but I didn’t like that Monica had escaped. Maybe seeing everything she’d done to her daughter would change her too. I could hope, at least.

I headed back into town to catch the next train to Manhattan. I ignored all the looks I got from the passengers. I was too tired to care. Once I was back in the city, I made my way to the Upper West. I swung to the twenty-fourth precinct where Captain Stacy worked. I was lucky enough to catch him taking his break on the roof. Maybe Harry’s Osborn luck was rubbing off on me after all.

“Ahoy, Captain!” I called out to him.

He turned around. “I’m not that kind of captain.”

“No, just captain of the comedy police,” I folded my arms. “I just stopped by to tell you that you don’t have to worry about Osborn anymore.”

“Really?” He mused. “Last I heard his safehouse had been raided. No one’s heard from him all day.”

“Yeah some stuff went down, but I handled it.”

“How?”

I tried not to be offended by his bluntness. “Trust me, the nightmare is over. Well, nearly. Monica Rappaccini escaped. But I don’t think she’ll come after Norman.”

Captain Stacy narrowed his eyes. “You’re not telling me the whole story.”

I sighed. “Just keep an eye out for her, will you? I have some things to take care of.”

“Like explaining to your parents why you ditched school?” Captain Stacy glanced at his watch. “Maybe you should give crime fighting a rest and just be a normal kid. I have a daughter. If she was running around in a costume all day...let’s just say I wouldn’t be happy.”

“Sorry, Stacy. You won’t be getting rid of me that easily. I told you I have a responsibility to protect this city.”

I jumped off the building and started to swing home. Captain Stacy was right, Aunt May wasn’t going to be happy with me. I still couldn’t think of an excuse to justify why I skipped school. I would just have to take my punishment in silence. I changed back into my normal clothes once I got back into Queens. It was nearly four in the afternoon by the time I neared the house.

Aunt May’s wrath would have to wait. Gwen and MJ were waiting for me in front of my house. Seeing the two of them glare at me from down the street was more intimidating than facing Scorpion. The closer I got the more I was willing to take my chances fighting Gargan again.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, Parker,” Gwen folded her arms. “MJ told me about your bandages.”

This just kept getting better. I didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground.

“Where were you today?” Gwen grabbed my arms and rolled up my sleeve. She frowned when she didn’t see anything wrong.

I silently thanked my healing factor. I would never complain about it again. “I was so worried about Harry, I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t sit in school while he could be in danger.”

“Peter you can’t do anything about that! You’re just a kid.” Gwen dropped my arm.

“I know,” I fixed my sleeve. “I hate feeling like I can’t do anything.”

MJ frowned. “You can do something, you dummy.”

I looked up at her in surprise. She didn’t sound mad.

“You can be there for Harry. He needs you right now. Do you have any idea how worried Harry and your aunt would’ve been if they found out you weren’t in school with all of this dangerous stuff happening?”

I tilted my head. “What do you mean _ if?” _

MJ smiled at Gwen. “You really are lucky to have such good friends.”

“I covered for you,” Gwen explained. “I told the teachers that you were helping me and the student council with last minute preparations for the dance. They didn’t even question it.”

My jaw dropped. “I can’t believe it. You’re amazing, Gwen!”

She smiled. “Tell me something I don’t know, Parker. Just don’t pull a stunt like that again, got it?”

I stepped forward and hugged her. “I won’t, I promise!”

Gwen pushed me off of her. “Good. Now, let’s go inside.”

I nodded and took out my keys. “Coming, MJ?”

She hadn’t moved from the sidewalk. She looked a little sad. “Sorry, my mom and step dad are coming back tonight. I need to pack up my stuff.”

I tried not to feel disappointed. “We’ll hang out later, then!”

MJ’s frown was replaced by a small smile. “Yeah, definitely.”

She went back to her aunt’s house. Gwen poked me on the shoulder. “Y’know, she told me she was going to miss living next to you.”

I blushed furiously. “You’re just as bad as Aunt May.”

We went inside to find Harry waiting for us. “Guys you won’t believe it! My father just called, he said it’s safe to go back to school!”

“Really?” Gwen said. “What happened?”

“Apparently the police proved that Scorpion and Vulture were working alone. With them out of the picture, Oscorp is finally safe.”

Norman said that, huh? I guess he lied to the police, too. Probably to save his own reputation. If word got out that he used to work for, sorry  _ with _ A.I.M., he wouldn't have to worry about rebuilding Oscorp Tower; that would be the end of his empire.

“Didn’t you say Spider-Man thought they were working for somebody?” Gwen asked.

Harry shrugged. “I guess he was wrong.”

I looked away. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad that Harry was safe, but I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. “I suppose your dad will be coming to pick you up, then?”

“Actually, if it’s fine with you and May, I was going to ask him if I could stay with you for a little while longer,” Harry said. “Just until the repairs to the penthouse are finished.”

“Y-yeah, of course!” Oops, I might have said that a little too excitedly. I cleared my throat.

Gwen saved me from embarrassment by clapping her hands together. “This means you’ll be able to go to the dance again!”

“Oh, great,” Harry groaned, but his smile betrayed him. 

I was surprised to realize I was looking forward to the dance as well. Now that there wouldn’t be anymore supervillains after Harry, I could relax and enjoy normal kid stuff like Captain Stacy suggested. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

…

School let out early the next day to let students prepare for the dance on Friday. Gwen and I went out to look for a secondhand suit I could wear. Harry would’ve come with, but his dad wanted to meet up with him. He told us he would meet us back at my place when he could.

“So Peter,” Gwen drawled as we poked through the clothing racks at a thrift store. “Have you decided on who you’re going to take to the dance?”

I had been thinking about that a lot, but I think I finally made my decision. “I’m not going to take anyone. Me and Harry are going to go as friends like we planned.”

“You’re chickening out?”

“No,” I protested. “It’s just, with everything that’s happened, Harry deserves some time to chill. I don’t want to spring this on him.”

Gwen looked disappointed for a moment, but then a smile spread across her face. “So you chose Harry, huh?”

I glared at her. “Are you going to help me find a suit or not?”

It took a couple hours and several thrift stores, but we finally managed to find a suit that fit me and wasn’t crazy expensive. Gwen’s father called her home after that, so I made my way back to Queens alone. I thought about what Gwen had said. Was I really being a coward? I just wasn’t ready for things to change. So much was already happening in my life. If I dated anyone, MJ  _ or  _ Harry, I would still have to hide my identity as Spider-Man. That big of a secret couldn’t be good for a healthy relationship. It would be selfish of me to try, wouldn’t it? 

A wave of loneliness washed over me as I got off the train. I shook my head in a futile attempt to clear my mind. It was better for everyone this way, I’d just have to deal with it. I had bigger things to worry about than relationship drama. The safety of New York City, namely.

Harry was already back at my place. He and Aunt May were setting the table when I walked in.

“How’d it go with your dad?” I sat down.

“Oh, same old stuff,” Harry said, taking his own seat. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

He didn’t talk much the rest of dinner. I began to suspect things didn’t go as well as he said. After dinner was all cleaned up, Harry and I went upstairs. He busied himself with his schoolwork while I stared at him from my desk chair.

Finally he looked up. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What's up with your dad?”

Harry sighed. “You saw right through me at dinner, huh? Truth is, I’m worried about him.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. He’s being more paranoid than usual.”

“Well being attacked by two supervillains is a good reason to be paranoid, I think.”

Harry shook his head. “It’s more than that. He seems angry.”

That was my fault. Norman was probably still furious at me for ruining his formula. “I bet he’s just stressed by all the work that comes along with rebuilding Oscorp Tower. Give him some time.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

…

The next night I stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying to fix my hair. I looked weird in a suit. Gwen had assured me I looked fine, but I didn’t buy it. I was just a little too short and the suit was a little too big. Finally I sighed in defeat.

“Tell me again why you were excited for this dance,” I asked my reflection, but he didn’t answer. The fool just stood there looking nervous.

I went back to my room. Harry had just finished getting ready too. I tried not to stare but he looked amazing. Harry Osborn was born to wear fancy suits. Then I noticed his tie and my heart skipped a beat. It was red with black webbing, just like my Spider-Man suit.

Harry saw me looking and straightened the tie. “Do you like it? I made it the other day. The theme is superheroes after all."

"It looks great," I said.

Harry and I went downstairs to leave, but got caught by Aunt May. She fussed over both of us, picking a microscopic piece of dirt from Harry's shoulder and running a hand through my hair. 

"Aunt May," I swatted her hands away, "we're gonna miss the train!"

"Oh fine," she relented, stepping back to look at us with her hands clasped together. "You both just look so adorable! Let me get a picture!"

"Sorry, no time!" I grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him out the door while May tried to find a camera.

Once the door was safely closed behind us I breathed a sigh of relief.

Harry laughed at me. "Aunt May really is something else. Come on, let's go catch that train."

We met up with Gwen and her date Alistair Smythe outside the school. Then I saw the person standing with them and nearly panicked. It was MJ. She was wearing a stunning red dress with gold leggings. Her hair fell down over her shoulders.

"MJ," my voice squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

"Gwen invited me," MJ explained. "And those girls from the concert, Sally and Liz wanted me to come too."

"Mary Jane Watson takes on Midtown High," I laughed nervously while Gwen gave me a very pointed look. It was official, Gwen was worse than Aunt May.

I ignored her. We all went inside. The gym was decorated with streamers that went in patterns of red and gold, red white and blue, and shades of green. Balloons also mirrored the colors of major Avengers. I spotted Flash Thompson across the gym wearing an all green suit. He was so big and muscly he almost did look like the Hulk.

Harry and I sat on the bleachers. All around us the students of Midtown High were dancing to “Electric Love”. The lights pulsed blue and red. MJ’s unannounced presence at the dance had caught me completely off guard. She looked so at ease with all of my classmates, it was strange.

Harry noticed I was watching her. “Why don’t you dance with her?”

There was that unplaceable tone in his voice. The thought of dancing with MJ made my heart jump, but I didn’t get up. I glanced at Harry. He really did look amazing in his suit and homemade Spidey tie. I did want to dance, I decided. This whole time I’d been distancing myself from MJ, Harry, and Gwen. I told myself it was the right thing to do, my life was just too dangerous, but was that the real reason? I thought about Carmilla and Greg; how they wouldn’t get a second chance for their dance.

“Can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone?”

Harry blinked. “Of course, Pete.”

I took a deep breath. “I never used to miss my parents. I was so young when they died, it’s hard to miss people you can hardly remember. But ever since Uncle Ben...now that he’s gone I’ve started to miss all of the people I’ve lost. I’ve felt so alone for these past couple of months. And I thought that loneliness protected me from losing anyone else but now…”

I stared out across the gym, watching MJ and Gwen dance to the music and I made up my mind. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

Harry didn’t seem to know what to say. He stared at me with that strange look on his face as I stood. That look changed to surprise when I turned and offered him my hand.

“Do you want to dance with me?”

Harry stared at my hand like he’d never seen it before. I started to think maybe I’d made a mistake when he grabbed my hand, his shock melting into a grin. “Yes.”

I smiled so wide my cheeks started to hurt. Harry and I made our way over to Gwen and MJ, still holding hands. The song reached its final chorus as Harry and I started to dance. Jumping around on the gym floor with Harry was the best experience ever, even webslinging didn’t hold a candle to the warm feeling spreading across my chest.

It was pretty much the best night of my life. Harry and I stayed by each other the whole night, but eventually the dance ended. The teachers forced us all out of the gym. Gwen said goodnight to Alistair, giving him a kiss on the cheek that set his whole face on fire. He left and it was just me, Harry, Gwen, and MJ sitting on a bench outside the school.

“I really don’t know what you see in that kid.” Harry watched Alistair walk away. “He’s kinda weird.”

“He’s cute,” Gwen shrugged. “Oh, there’s my dad! Bye, guys!”

Gwen and MJ started walking towards Captain Stacy’s car.

“You’re going with Gwen?” I asked MJ.

“Yeah, I’m spending the night at her place.” Mary Jane smiled at me, her eyes flicking briefly to Harry. “Good night, tiger.”

The girls left and Harry and I were suddenly very alone. I started to get nervous. Harry and I hadn’t been able to talk much, the music had been so loud. I wondered if he actually knew that when I asked him to dance I meant more than that. Had I been clear enough? I hadn’t ever asked anyone out before, and I definitely hadn’t  _ been _ asked out before. I was way out of my depth here.

Then Harry shifted closer to me, his shoulder brushing up against mine. “So…”

I’m sure my blush put Alistair’s to shame. “So.”

“I just wanted to clarify. When you asked me to dance, was that also your way of asking something else?”

I cleared my throat. “Um, that depends on if you’re interested.”

Harry laughed. “This is insane. All this time I thought I was going to be the one to ask you out.”

“What?” I stared at Harry, wondering if all the head trauma I’d gotten over the last week was causing me to hallucinate.

“I didn’t want to risk our friendship if you didn’t feel the same way. Gwen told me just to go for it-”

“Gwen  _ knew?”  _ I jumped up from the bench and snatched my phone. “I am going to murder her!”

“Woah,” Harry grabbed my shoulder and made me sit back down. “Don’t be mad at her, I made her promise not to tell anyone. Besides, I thought you were into Mary Jane Watson.”

“I will admit that I have a little bit of a crush on MJ, but in a choice between you and her it’s kind of a no-brainer.” I thought for a second. “Wait, was there ever even a meeting with your dad last Saturday?”

“No,” Harry admitted. “I just didn’t want to watch you fawn over the girl next door.”

“Wow. I thought  _ I _ was the nervous wreck. Turns out we’re both hopeless.”

Harry laughed again and leaned against me. We sat together in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company, but of course our peace didn’t last. Harry got a text from his dad telling him to come back to their hotel room.

“Damn,” Harry sighed. “I have to go, but let’s hang out tomorrow, yeah?”

“Definitely.” I stood up with Harry, holding my hand out for a fist bump. 

Harry paused for a second, then leaned in and gave me a kiss instead. He was so quick even my spider-reflexes were blindsided. “See you tomorrow, Pete.”

Harry ran to the street and flagged a cab. I stood there frozen to the ground. A whole minute passed before I remembered to breathe. I probably would’ve stood there the whole night trying to process what just happened, but my phone vibrated. It was a text from Gwen.

_ You and Harry were pretty close all night,  _ it read, followed by a bunch of those side eye emojis.

I felt a rush of annoyance.  _ You jerk! Why didn’t you tell me Harry had a crush on me too!? _

_ HE TOLD YOU? ARE YOU GUYS DATING NOW? _

I smiled and put my phone back into my pocket, leaving her on read. It was only fair to let her squirm for a bit. I smiled to myself and started walking home. I could already tell this was going to be the start of something amazing.

…

Harry took the elevator up to his father's hotel room. He couldn't stop smiling. Nothing his father had to say could ruin this night for him. It had been perfect. 

Harry hummed one of the songs he and Peter danced to while he swiped the card and entered the room. "Hey, Dad. What did you want to talk about?"

The room was dark. The only light came from the windows. Harry spotted his father silhouetted against the glass. Something was wrong. Harry couldn't place the feeling, but it was nearly overwhelming. For a second he was tempted to turn and run out of the room, but that was crazy; it was just his father.

Then Norman turned around and the urge to run returned. His father looked more than mad, he looked like he was about to go nuclear. "What are you wearing?"

Harry didn't answer right away. The question caught him off guard. "Uh, a suit? I just came back from the dance."

His father stormed towards him. Before Harry could react, Norman grabbed his Spider-Man tie and dragged him forward.

"What is this? Do you think this is a joke?"

"I-I made it for the dance," Harry stammered, trying to free himself. "The theme was superheroes!"

Norman tugged the tie again and it came undone. Harry stumbled backwards, almost losing his balance.

"Spider-Man is not a hero!" His father threw the tie to the floor and stomped on it. "He is a cancer on this city! If you ever see him again, you tell me! Do I make myself clear?"

"I don't…" Harry backed up more. He was used to his father's anger, but this was different. He was completely unhinged. 

"Do I make myself clear?" His father bent down to shout in Harry's face.

"Y-yes, sir." Harry looked down, not wanting to see the crazed look in his dad's eyes anymore. His entire face seemed to have changed, like this wasn't his father anymore but an awful parody.

Norman turned back to glare out the window, a toothy grin replacing his frown. The smile didn't reach his eyes. The city lights cast a sickly green glow on his skin. "Spider-Man will get what's coming to him, mark my words."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of the first part of this story, and the end of the material I have written so far. I have the plot for the next part largely completed, but no progress on the physical chapters yet. That being said, this is going to be the last chapter for a while until I can get a workable draft started. I hope to have the next chapter up before the end of March, but I can't say anything for sure. Thank you to everyone who has read this far, and a special shoutout to rajvishah whose comments made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. See you guys soon, this is your friendly neighborhood fanfic writer signing off!

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be updated every Monday and Friday. Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments. I have a general plot that I'm trying to stick to, but if any of you want to see a certain villain introduced, I can try my best to work them in!


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